Giant Steps Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015

"Hooleydooley. If ya like ya pinot noir, and well, most of us do, then ya gunna like the Giant Steps 2015s. Perfect storm. How good are these vineyards? How good is Steve Flamsteed and co?" - Mike Bennie

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. 

"Another take on this great vintage, with savoury, spicy aromas and flavours surging over the bouquet and palate alike, putting whole bunch fermentation up in giant neon letters. The tangy, herbal, forest floor characters will always be the raison d'etre of the wine, and I hope I'm around to see how this evolves over time."  James Halliday

The Primavera Vineyard is located at Woori Yallock (Hoddles Creek) in the upper Yarra Valley on deep red basalt soils. It was planted  in 2001 by Lou Primavera, whose family have been involved in grape growing for over 40 years. Giant Steps have a long-standing relationship with the Primavera family, and now produce a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the fruit they source from the vineyard under a long-term supervised contract. The 12 hectare vineyard is located at an elevation of 240 metres on a north and north-east facing aspect. 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. 

The fruit for the 2015 Giant Steps Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir was hand picked and fermentation occurs in 4000L open oak vats and 5000L open fermenters.  It is 100% whole bunch and sees 11 months in used (75%) and new (25%) French Oak with no filtration at bottling. 

Expert reviews

"This has an expansive mood to it, whereby aromas float out in a stream of rich blue-tinged fruits together wtih gentle spices, rosehip and blood oranges. There are some more flinty, chalky and savory aromas, too. Here's a very seductive pinot that gets you lingering in the glass. The palate has a layered and smooth style to it, offering up lots of velvety and fine tannins that flow in waves, folding one after the other through the finish. Plenty of ripe dark-cherry and plum flavors plus hints of espresso and chocolate. This is a class act. Drink now and for 8+ years. This is from a site in the Hoddles Creek area of the Upper Yarra."  James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com - 97 points

"Another take on this great vintage, with savoury, spicy aromas and flavours surging over the bouquet and palate alike, putting whole bunch fermentation up in giant neon letters. The tangy, herbal, forest floor characters will always be the raison d'etre of the wine, and I hope I'm around to see how this evolves over time. From the Upper Yarra Valley. Drink by 2027."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points and Special Value Wine  ★  

"A new vineyard to join the suite of sites from Giant Steps. Applejack and Sexton vineyards are the other two, of course. What a superb set of wines from 2015. One also forgets that the wines are produced with gentle touch – hand picked, natural ferment, sent to mostly old oak for 11 months. This wine is 100% whole bunch too; and it's formative in this wine. It's what I called 'the most captivating' wine, in my notes. Sexton is spicy, sleek, elegant, Applejack is sinewy yet ethereal. More to come on those wines shortly…

Haunting perfume of undergrowth, decaying flowers, pot pourri, rose water, pickled cherries, pepper, earth. It's elemental, guttural and wild to inhale. The palate has a swirl of dark cherry fruitiness, but again, savoury, earthy, briary character takes over. It crackles and swerves in the palate – there's juiciness but its ribbed with tannin and feels alive with crisp acidity. Long, so long, untamed, unkempt, but beautiful in its sweeping expression. Stains the glass with primal, sexual scent. A broad rugged landscape painted in detail. It's unbelievably good wine and will mature so, so intriguingly and well. Drink: 2016-2030."  Mike Bennie, The Wine Front - 96 points

Awards

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.