Giant Steps Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021

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. 

"So pure and perfumed with briary cherries, ripe redcurrants and freshly cut roses. Poised, juicy and energetic, the wine has so much tang and crunch, you barely notice that this is also structured finishing with long, gently puckering tannins. A wine with immediate appeal, but also one that will reward at least another 7-10 years in the cellar."  Philip Rich

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. 

"2021 was a terrific vintage for both vineyard quality and quantity. We had a wet spring followed by a healthy amount of sunshine and some well-timed rain in January, leading to large green healthy canopies. The overall temperature during the growing season was lower than average which led to a long slow ripening period and great concentration of flavours and natural tannin structure.

50% to 60% whole bunch and constructed from clones MV6 and 115. Hand picked, all fruit is chilled overnight to 12 degrees Celsius. Fermented in small oak fermenters and stainless steel open vats. The fruit was destemmed and sorted to create five individual, clonal, whole berry ferments. Every block from Primavera made it into the final blend – just a beautiful vintage on that red soil. All parcels were matured in French oak – 25% new, 75% older – for eight months in 225L barriques Taransaud, Vicard and D&J. Racked to blend, no fining, no filtration. Bottled by gravity."  Giant Steps

Expert reviews

"From the Primavera vineyard at Woori Yallock, planted in 2001 on the same red soil as Wombat Creek. Both destemmed (55%) and whole-bunch components. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. A very bright crimson purple. So pure and perfumed with briary cherries, ripe redcurrants and freshly cut roses. Poised, juicy and energetic, the wine has so much tang and crunch, you barely notice that this is also structured finishing with long, gently puckering tannins. A wine with immediate appeal, but also one that will reward at least another 7-10 years in the cellar. Drink by 2031."  Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion – 97 points and Special Value Wine  ★

"Down the hill by approximately 100 meters from the Wombat Creek Vineyard and planted on the same deep red basalt, the 2021 Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir was made with 50% to 60% whole bunch and constructed from clones MV6 and 115. It is the leanest note of all of the wines in this collection, but my favorite wine: crunchy, strawberry, red apples, cranberry, redcurrant, red cherry...and abundance of red. The fruit is open and seductive, but it has a gentle herbal edge, like rose petals (specifically David Austin's Boscobel rose), musk sticks and Turkish delight. This is satisfying. Fleshy. Plump. Beautiful. Drink: 2022 - 2037."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 95+ points

"Red-fruited, nutty, almost raspberry, pomegranate aspects, pips, florals, star anise. It seems slight and lifted, strict and precise, on the whole, but its exuberant fragrance and that slight sweetness to the fruit helps promote an impression of generosity. Talc-powdery, ultra-fine grained, velour tracksuit-esque tannin is another high quality marker, as are the whispers of stalk and briar. This is from a vineyard planted by Lou Primavera 25 years ago at Woori Yallock. Excellent release, no question. Drink : 2023 - 2030+."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 95 points

"Medium red-purple, bright colour; pronounced spicy, floral and dark-cherry aromas with a lick of smart oak; the palate is rich and full in profile, with abundant softly drying tannins and a bold, up-front structure. A generous pinot, of focused intensity and a long carry. It's refined and aromatic but also powerful, a wine of considerable charm. (Woori Yallock, 230m alt, 35 barrels made). Drink: 2023–2032."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 94 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.