Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Chardonnay 2017

James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2018

Giant Steps is recognized as a global benchmark for cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The winery was established in 1998, one year after founder Phil Sexton arrived in the Yarra Valley in search of ideal sites to produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of purity and finesse. The Giant Steps Single Vineyard range is produced from the most site-expressive fruit off the best vineyards in great years. 

"A lovely wine having opened its arms wide to the cool, high quality vintage, the notable Applejack Vineyard adding to the purity of the grapefruit, Granny Smith apple and stone fruit flavours. As cool as a snow-fed mountain stream."  James Halliday 

The Applejack Vineyard, named after the Applejack eucalypts that surround the vineyard, is located at Gladysdale in the upper Yarra Valley. It was planted in 1997 by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin and is meticulously managed by his son Mark. This vineyard was purchased by Phil Sexton in 2013. Located at an elevation of 320 metres, the higher altitude results in a cooler and extended growing season (3-4 weeks later than central Yarra Valley) and is ideally suited to growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Applejack Vineyard is located on a dramatic, north-east-facing slope with close-planted vines. 

"Winemaker Steve Flamsteed's chardonnays are Yarra Valley benchmarks."  Ralph Kyte-Powell

"2017 was a textbook cool climate vintage. As a result, all varieties enjoyed slower ripening where acids, sugar and flavor stayed well in-sync. The resulting wines have terrific structure and detail, underpinned by crisp natural acidity and bright fruit.

Hand picked and whole bunch pressed without additions. Course settled to 500L French puncheons. Indigenous fermentation. No malolactic fermentation. Batonnage for the first two months, then topped and let rest (maturing) for a further 8 months on lees. New and used tight grain French oak – 20% new, 80% older. Rough pass filtered and naturally fined. Bottled by gravity."  Giant Steps

Expert reviews

"Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented in French puncheons, no mlf, matured for 10 months. A lovely wine having opened its arms wide to the cool, high quality vintage, the notable Applejack Vineyard adding to the purity of the grapefruit, Granny Smith apple and stone fruit flavours. As cool as a snow-fed mountain stream. Drink by 2027."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points and Top 100 Wines of 2018 and Special Value Wine  ★  

"There's a very complete and complex feel to this cool-climate Yarra chardonnay, it's placed right in the white peach and yellow grapefruit zone, nicely framed in fresh, spicy oak and delivered with a twist or reductive funk. The palate has cool, contained and nicely cut fresh fruit flesh with a compelling combination of power with elegance. Great chardonnay. Drink over the next 6 years."  James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com - 96 points

"First Applejack chardonnay that Giant Steps has done. Isolated for its personality. It's been seen as a single vineyard wine, but normally blended into the 'Yarra' wine. Steve Flamsteed et al saw that something special, and they weren't wrong. How good is intuitive winemaking? Numbers can go hang, here. What a belter. Phwoar.

Parisian almond, lemon rind, grapefruit juice, faint wet slate notes. Saline tang to acidity, some light creaminess of savoury nuttiness though the mainstay is a core of blisteringly fresh tart fruit flavour underlying. Incredible velocity and freshness, character, complexity, nerviness. Beautiful, super thing. Drink: 2018-2027+."  Mike Bennie, The Wine Front – 95+ points

"Youthfully simple, fruit-driven aromas of stone fruits, plus a subtle, restrained toasty and nutty touch. The wine is fruit-driven and straightforward at this stage, yet to develop its complexity, clean and bright, with nectarine and creamy lees characters. The palate is refined, intense and very long. This will soar with extra time. Drink: 2019-2029."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 95 points

Awards

James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2018
Special Value Wine - Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

 In 1997 Phil Sexton arrived in the Yarra Valley in search of ideal sites to produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of purity and finesse. He was looking for sites with altitude, aged soils, slopes of exposure, regular rainfall and cool to cold nighttime temperatures and a gentle breeze off the protecting mountain ranges. The Giant Steps winery was established one year later in 1998.

The focus is on the production of high-quality, single-vineyard wines. The Giant Steps Single Vineyard range is produced from the most site-expressive fruit off the best vineyards in great years. Each single vineyard wine tells a story about the vineyard, vintage and variety. Production of these wines is very limited with some vineyards producing as little as 200 cases.

The single vineyards comprise the Sexton Vineyard in the Lower Yarra and the Applejack Vineyard in the Upper Yarra (both owned by Giant Steps), the Tarraford Vineyard in the Lower Yarra under long-term lease, the Primavera Vineyard in the Upper Yarra under long-term supervised contract and the Wombat Creek Vineyard owned by Hand Picked Wines. In addition, Giant Steps produce a Yarra Valley range of wines made from handpicked fruit from their estate vineyards. They are highly expressive wines, true to the regional characteristics of the Yarra Valley. 

The Giant Steps wines have received global acclaim and are now recognized as a global benchmark for cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Since 2003 Giant Steps wines have been awarded 34 trophies and over 100 gold medals at major international and domestic wine shows and has been named one of the Top 100 Wineries in the World by US Wine & Spirits Magazine for each of the last six years.

Giant Step's success is due in no small part to Steve Flamsteed, Chief Winemaker since 2003. Steve had previously worked for Leeuwin Estate (1999 – 2002) and the Hardy Wine Company at their Yarra Burn Winery in the Yarra Valley (2002 – 2003). Steve was named Gourmet Traveller Wine 'Winemaker of the Year' in 2016. "Steve Flamsteed is a man of many talents with a finely tuned palate, an instinctive flair for winemaking and fastidious attention to detail. This shows particularly in the stunning single-vineyard chardonnays and pinots of Giant Steps: distinctive wines that reflect their sites and glow with impeccable finesse."  Peter Forrestal, chairman of judges, Gourmet Traveller Wine Winemaker of the Year

Melanie Chester joined Giant Steps as Head of Winemaking and Viticulture in 2021. She came to Giant Steps from Sutton Grange Winery in Central Victoria, where she was Head Winemaker. In 2014, Melanie became the youngest ever scholar selected for The Len Evans Tutorial. In 2015, she was named Young Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine, and in 2018, Melanie was recognized by Young Gun of Wine as the People's Choice award winner for favourite winemaker.

Giant Steps was acquired by the Jackson Family in 2020. The Jackson Family own a vast stable of wineries in California (Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Mendocino County, Monterey County, Santa Barbara and Oregon), Australia (Yarra Valley and McLaren Vale), Chile, France, Italy and South Africa.