Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019 (1500ml)

"This wine shouts Applejack from the rooftops: it's perfumed, elegant and relatively light-bodied, but with a fireworks display of red fruits and complex, savoury tannins. As with all Giant Steps pinots, it's not fined or filtered.”  James Halliday, The Australian - 98 points

"This is a stunning Pinot Noir, it is pretty, structural and has a purity of fruit that is met in equal measure by subtle savoury texture from whole bunches and the delicate spice that comes from new French oak. The palate builds beautifully with a meld of red and black cherry; undergrowth, rhubarb and finely tuned acidity define the mid palate with the complex and long finish a layered expression of fruit and gentle spice. A benchmark example of Australian Pinot Noir."  Patrick Eckel - 97 points

"Expressively complex with plenty of red-cherry, strawberry and pomegranate aromas, as well as oak spice and sappy notes. The palate has impressive density with focus. The spiced blueberry flavors are intense, fresh and long and there's such vibrant acidity sustaining the long finish."  Nick Stock, James Suckling.com – 96 points

"Medium to light red/purple hue, the aroma fusty, earthy, forest floor, a note of oak and a touch of humus. Very rich and ripe, almost opulent flavour with charming fruit sweetness and a succulent core. A delicious wine."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 95 points

Trophy, Best Pinot Noir of Show - 2020 Yarra Valley Wine Show

Applejack Vineyard  (Upper Yarra Valley)

Applejack Vineyard is a special site, located on a dramatic slope in the upper Yarra Valley and is closely planted and fastidiously managed. It was planted by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin in 1997. The basalt based underlying volcanic soil and rock produce a characteristically fine yet extended, spicy and firm palate. The higher altitude results in a cooler and extended growing season, ideally suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (3-4 weeks later than central Yarra Valley). This vineyard joined the Giant Steps family of Single Vineyards in 2013.

"This vineyard is a special location for Pinot Noir in the Yarra Valley – its eastern aspect means the sun rises to gently warm and dry out the vineyard in the morning, but the vines are sheltered from the afternoon heat by the temperate rainforest that surrounds it. We notice it produces the most earthen pinot noirs, that have the beautiful perfume and exotic red fruits that we love about Pinot, with complex notes of fresh turned earth, miso and mushroom. The flavours combined with wound tannins, intense flavour and texture on the palate shows us the quality of the site for world class Pinot Noir."  Giant Steps

Location: Gladysdale                
Elevation: 320 metres          
Aspect: East-facing
Size: 12.5 hectares                    
Planted: 1997                       
Soil Type: Grey clay loam
Chardonnay Clones: I10V1     
Pinot Noir Clones: Abel, MV6, Pommard, 114, 115, D2V5, D5V15

 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.

We want you to enjoy your wines as soon as possible and endeavour to dispatch orders as quickly as we can. It may take us a little longer during sales or peak trading periods, so kindly keep that in mind if you are purchasing for a special occasion.

Shipping Cost

Delivery is free on any order of 12 or more bottles to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong and rural Victoria.

On orders of 12 or more bottles to all other areas, we cover a percentage of the shipping costs. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

For orders of less than 12 bottles Australia wide, shipping is calculated at checkout.

Insurance

All orders are fully insured.

Standard Delivery

We use Australia Post and a Specialist Wine Courier (Anonymous Wine Freight) for domestic deliveries. Your location will determine which of these delivery services will be available.

Couriers will not telephone ahead to notify you of time of delivery and delivery on specific days can not be guaranteed.

While a large number of destinations are serviced within 48 hours or less, please allow up to 14 days for delivery within Australia.

Specialist Wine Delivery Service

We offer a specialist temperature-controlled wine delivery service called Anonymous Wine Freight to deliver your wine if you live close to the CBD in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, or live in Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Mornington Peninsula or Geelong. If Anonymous Wine Freight services your postcode, the option to use them will appear on checkout. Here is a link to the list of postcodes they service. 

They are highly recommended as they ship in refrigerated transport to climate-controlled warehouses in each metro area before they make their way to your delivery address in air-conditioned vehicles for the last kilometers. In addition, they will even call you by phone at the time of delivery if they encounter any problems.

Please find their delivery schedule below.

Pick-up

If you live in Melbourne, you can pick up your order from our office in Camberwell by prior arrangement. Please select the 'Pick Up' delivery option during checkout and we will contact you to arrange a suitable time for pick-up once the order has been packed.

What if I won’t be home?

If you may not be home at the time of delivery and would like the wine left in a safe place, please give Authority to Leave (ATL) and any delivery instructions in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button. 

If you have requested delivery with Australia Post and have not given Authority to Leave, a signature will be required on delivery. If you miss the postman, the order will be taken to your local Post Office for collection.

If you have requested delivery with our specialist wine courier (Anonymous Wine Freight), the driver will phone you for instructions if you are not at home at the time of delivery. If he can't contact you, the order will be taken to their local depot and can be re-delivered subject to a $20.00 fee.

Summer Heat Policy

If during hot weather you would like us to delay dispatch of your order to avoid potential heat damage to your wine please let us know. We are more than happy to store your order in our climate controlled warehouse until the weather is cooler. Please add the request in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button.

Alternatively, we may email you and request to delay dispatch of your order until the weather is cooler. If this happens, you can of course request immediate delivery if you wish.

International Shipping

We deliver wine to a number of destinations worldwide. If you require overseas delivery, please email us with the relevant information and we will advise you if we can deliver to your selected destination and the shipping costs involved.

International orders are supplied GST free. Please be aware that you will be responsible for the payment of all duties and taxes that are levied by your local authorities.

Minimum order requirements apply.