Best Value Winery: Bondar

2026 Best Value Winery 

Bondar – McLaren Vale, South Australia 

Bondar has been named the 2026 Companion's Best Value Winery.

In a particularly challenging year for most, value has never been so important. We have certainly felt the need to showcase Australia’s best buys, both suitable for the mid-week and for special occasions.

In a market where manufacturing, resourcing and labour have become both difficult to source and challenging to reckon with, particularly for small businesses, we must acknowledge the key players that are consistently turning out fabulous wines, worthy of our rainy-day money. We are proud to present our Best Value Winery of this year, Bondar.

Since their very first vintage in 2013, we have been fortunate to review Bondar’s wines. 80 of them to be precise. And, out of that 80, an astonishing 58 have qualified for the special value rosette. If we needed further cause for celebration, we’d only have to acknowledge that 72 per cent of all Bondar wines have been awarded 95 points or over. And these are just the stats.

What Selina and Andre have achieved since acquiring the Rayner vineyard (planted to old-vine shiraz and grenache) is nothing short of momentous. The duo is committed to regenerative farming and are also certified under the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia program. And by doing better by the land, they are also doing better by wine lovers.

The wines are elegant, savoury-leaning and meticulously made. Most of the Bondar portfolio sits at $50 or under, and their Rosé (one of the best examples in the country, year in, year out) is priced at $28.

Thunderous value, without comprising the land, is why Bondar is our Best Value Winery of the Year." – Katrina Butler

And as Bondar shifts to planting more Mediterranean grape varieties, as well as sourcing fruit from other vineyards (to use in their new top-tier Hope Springs Eternal range), Andre and Selina are steadfast in their desire to keep value at the very core of the brand. 

It is a shining example of how to produce high-quality wines at approachable price points without compromising the land. We congratulate them for being our 2026 Best Value Winery.

Previous Best Value Winery recipients include Hoddles Creek Estate (2015), West Cape Howe Wines (2016), Larry Cherubino Wines (2017), Grosset (2018), Provenance Wines (2019), Domaine Naturaliste (2020), Best’s Wines (2021), Lake Breeze Wines (2022), Deep Woods Estate (2023), Oakridge Wines (2024) and Mulline (2025).

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The 2026 Halliday Wine Companion is available now. Secure your copy of Australia's most comprehensive wine guide at all good bookstores.

This is an edited extract from the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion, with reviews by Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Katrina Butler, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale and Toni Paterson MW.