Hope Estate

Hope Estate
Hunter Valley | Australia

Hope Estate, formerly Hill of Hope, was established in 1994 when Michael Hope purchased his first vineyard in the Hunter comprising 15 hectares of vines on a 112 hectare property. This parcel of land was ideally suited to whites so a second acquisition of land being 80 hectares of the famed red basalt soil at Fordwich was made. This was planted with 40 hectares of Shiraz, and Merlot. The winery, adjoining the new Fordwich vineyard, was purchased in 1996 and occupies the site of the former Saxonvale winery, which lay dormant for a number of years. The winery was refitted with stte-of-the-art equiptment for the 1997 vintage. The Broke-Fordwich sub-region of the Hunter Valley has been gazetted as one of the first designated Australian vineyard areas to be accorded international registration by the Geographic Indications Committee (GIC) of the Australian Winemakers'' Federation.