Giant Steps, Yarra Valley: Australia’s winery of the year launches the first wines from the remarkable Bastard Hill vineyard
Website: https://www.giantstepswine.com.au/
Giant Steps is a Yarra Valley winery that’s currently in the spotlight, winning the 2025 Halliday Guide Winery of the Year [2025? Yes, it’s a publishing trick: they run a year ahead in their title so that the printed book looks more up to date] title a few weeks ago. Their 2023 Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir also won the Pinot trophy, as did the previous vintage the year before. Quite an achievement.
I headed to Australia and took a two-day deep dive into the single vineyard wines of Giant Steps, which included the launch of the 2023 vintage collection, which for the first time had the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Bastard Hill vineyard, a very special site that was a recent acquisition. Normally a winery visit is a couple of hours: a chance to see vineyards, stroll through the cellar, ask some questions and do a tasting. It’s quite special to be able to focus more, especially with a winery like this that has undergone some very exciting developments since it was purchased by Jackson Family Wines in 2020. The approach is quite simple: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from privileged single vineyards in the Yarra Valley, with the sole focus on quality, taking a long-term view.
In 2021 they appointed a new head of winemaking and viticulture, Melanie Chester. She arrived in November 2021, so her first vintage was 2022, and it wasn’t a vintage you’d necessarily choose to start with at a new job. ‘It was horrendous in terms of crop,’ she says. ‘Three of the last vintages have been affected by La Niña, with a cold, wet spring and flowering, and bad winds.’ The Yarra was up to 60% down in yield, and Giant Steps was 35% down overall. ‘But with this came more concentration.’ There was a normal bunch count, but they were just much smaller than usual. Chardonnay bunches weighed 55-60 g when they normally weigh 110 g, and the MV6 clone Pinot was as low as 45 g per bunch. This influenced winemaking decisions: ‘for Pinot the stem to juice ratio would be out of whack for whole bunch,’ she says. 2023 was also a difficult vintage. ‘The best vintages are the cooler ones like these,’ says Melanie, ‘but from a farming perspective they were pretty tough.’
Melanie began her winemaking career at Treasury, with stints at Great Western and Seppelt. Then she had a long spell at Sutton Grange in Victoria.
They have sold their winery in Healsville and are transferring across the impressive gravity flow set-up that they had built there to a new winery. ‘Gravity is a massive part of the quality of the wines,’ says Melanie. Steve Flamsteed, the previous chief winemaker, is still involved in the current venture, and also on the winemaking team is Michael Latham, senior winemaker, who joined in 2020. Of course, being Australia, everyone has abbreviated two-syllable names. So it’s Flammo and Latho.
Some history
Giant Steps winery was started by Phil Sexton in the late 1990s. He is a serial entrepreneur and founded and sold two breweries (Matilda Bay and Little Creatures and a winery (Devil’s Lair) in Western Australia, before moving to the Yarra Valley and planting a vineyard in 1997 (the first vintage of Giant Steps was 2001). Phil had heard about this vineyard land in 1996 while he was still at Devil’s Lair – ge was a fan of Pinot Noir and had even planted a bit himself. He decided to buy it. In 2003 he hired winemaker Steve Flamsteed, and a couple of years later established a winery in the town of Healesville, with a gravity flow operation that to this day is still an important facet in Giant Steps Pinot Noir making.
Winemaking for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
In terms of Chardonnay winemaking, ‘we are not super-reductive,’ Melanie says. ‘We are not driven by reduction: we focus on the fruit.’
Senior winemaker Michael Latham describes the Chardonnay winemaking approach. The fruit is cooled in the fridge overnight, and then the next day it’s whole bunch pressed directly to tank, and goes to barrel with full solids and no settling. They will put the last lot with very high solids in a barrel that they mark and keep separate, and then they might use this if it’s good. Then it’s just keeping on top of things. ‘We have a cold room and warm room,’ he says, ‘so we can control temperature a bit.’ All the ferments are with wild yeast. In terms of malolactic fermentation, they let the vintage decide whether to do it or not, and how much, but they don’t inoculate. They use only French oak, with just 10-15% new.
For Pinot Noir, the approach is an interesting one. ‘As the fruit turns up in the winery, we have two options,’ says Michael Latham. ‘We will have a taste, bite into it, stem and all, and decide whether it is the flavour profile for whole bunch. Almond and nuttiness in the stem is the key.’ Then there fermentations are either 100% whole bunch or 100% destemmed. With the destemmed portion, it is destemmed, cooled, and begins a 4 day cold soak, and it’s on skins for around 14 days. ‘Everything is taken in as a single clone, so at blending stage we have a lot of variations on the palate,’ he says. ‘Gravity flow is key.’
THE VINEYARDS
A short film of the tour around the vineyards with Ash:
Sexton Vineyard
Ash Wood, viticulturist for Giant Steps, began the single vineyard tour at Sexton Vineyard. It’s in the Warramate Ranges, next to the town of Gruyere. This was planted in 1998 and 1999 by Phil Sexton. When he bought the site, it was a rural horse property, with Yarra Yering as neighbours. Phil had been looking to find the right place in the Yarra, because he wanted to grow Pinot Noir. He’d even planted some Pinot at his Devil’s Lair vineyard in Western Australia. He was still running Devil’s Lair but in 1996 when Bailey Carrodus of Yarra Yering tipped him off that this property was going to come to market, and he visited and fell in love with it.
He planted the Sexton vineyard mainly to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with lots of different clonal material. Initially, the wines were released with the clonal name on them, but when Steve Flamsteed came on board they realized it would resonate more with consumers to release the wines by vineyard, championing the site and not the plant material. It’s a 30 hectare site with 13 hectares of Chardonnay, and Melanie describes this as ‘one of our hero Chardonnay sites.’ For Chardonnay, they planted the NTAV clones 95, 96, 76, 277 and 88, as well as Gingin which Phil brought over from Western Australia. This clone is quite like Menodoza with its millerandange tendencies, but is different (see this explainer). Gingin does well here, but wouldn’t work well in the cooler sites in the Yarra.
For Pinot Noir there’s Pommard 5, MV6, 777 and Abel. There was also 6 hectares of Merlot originally planted here, but this didn’t work well and got grafted over to more Chardonnay and Pinot. There’s also some Cabernet Sauvignon for the Harry’s Monster wine and a bit of Malbec.
The soils here are fractured mudstones over thick clay. There’s a shallow layer of topsoil, especially at the top of the hill.
Ash has been removing herbicide from the site and is experimenting with undervine cover crops. He has cultivated under the vine then seeded with cover crops such as subterranean and aerial clovers. They form a mat under the vine, and the vine can outcompete this mat for water so there’s no loss of yield. In the midrows, he uses a mixed cover crop with a seven-species mix, including medics, clovers (subterranean and aerial again), vetch, rye and fescue for stability. He inherited soils that were a bit crusty from herbicide use, and he wanted to break that up with careful cultivation. They are still in the process of moving from growing what they don’t want on the floor to growing what they do. He’s also used buckwheat which is great for unlocking phosphorus in the soils, and seeded with mychorrizal dust. Compost has been applied too: it’s a combination of grape marc, horse waste, chicken waste and straw. At the end, he’s added some commercial mushroom compost to the mix.
The mornings can be cool and hazy, but here the afternoons can be hot. This is a champion site for Chardonnay.
Yields can reach 9 tonnes/hectare for Chardonnay, but Ash prefers 7/8 tonnes/hectare. Planting density is 2395 vines/hectare at 2.4 x 1.8 m spacing. New plantings are slightly higher density at 3125 vines/hectare (2.4 x 1.2 m). The reason for this is that if you cane prune Chardonnay to 8-10 buds you get apical dominance, so shorter canes are better. For Pinot Noir 6-7 tons/hectare is the sweet spot.
Ash says that downy mildew is a big problem here. ‘If I didn’t use systemic fungicides I wouldn’t have a crop,’ he says.
Tarraford
Next stop was Tarraford Vineyard. This is a warmer site, with a gentler landscape. With 8.5 hectares under vines this faces north, south and east with different aspects on the gentle slopes. First planted in 1988, this has Chardonnay (predominatly Penfolds P58 clone but also 95, 548 and I10V1) and quite a lot of Syrah (RD67) and some Pinot Noir (MV6, 667, 828). Soils are a duplex clay loam, and in some places there are alluvial deposits. The vineyard has a bit of phylloxera which has killed some vines, and these blocks are being replanted.
Tarraford was established by, and is owned by Chris and Anna Long, and it is leased and managed by Giatnt Steps.
Applejack
Applejack, a vineyard in Gladysdale, is a Pinot Noir hero vineyard for Giant Steps. Like Bastard Hill, this was planted by Ray Guerin, but this is his own vineyard and he planted it at the weekends. It’s east-facing and quite steeply sloped, and there are 13 hectares of vines here. Ray planted this in 1997, a decade after he planted Bastard Hill.
‘Having 10 years of experience at Bastard Hill,’ says Ray, ‘as a grower I realised it wouldn’t be good to plant that as a grower.’ In order to make the sums work from a marginal site like Bastard Hill, you also have to make the wine from it and sell it at a good price. ‘So I had to move to a lower altitude.’ Applejack is 180-260 metres, whereas Bastard Hill is 370 metres. Ray had a friend he played tennis with who owned 550 acres of potentially ideal vineyard land, and he planted Applejack jointly with him. ‘When I saw the site I knew the winds and the weather,’ he said. ‘In a cool site you need protection for the south and west – the souwesterlies kill you. This was a high altitude site with protection with a different soil type. Grey clay. When we did he first soil analysis it was deficient in almost everything. Apples and pears in that part of the valley grow exceptionally well, and they know how to get the soil growing, it works for vineyards too.’
Initially Applejack was planted with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Later the other varieties were grafted over to Pinot Noir. There are clones 114 and 115 at the top, then some MV6 and D clones (old sparkling clones), as well as Pommard 5 and Abel. The special feature of this vineyard is that it was pioneering in terms of its close planting, with a density of 1 x 2.2 m. The soils are caramel-coloured weathered clay.
‘This is one of the benchmark Pinot sites in Victoria,’ says Ash.
Bastard Hill
I’d visited the Bastard Hill vineyard once before. Back in March 2006 I was visiting the Yarra, staying with Tony Jordan, and he took me to have a look at what he considered to be one of the most interesting sites in the region. With its red soils and steep slopes, this was not typical Yarra, and even though it was being run by Hardy’s and a little lost in a large company structure, people were aware of the potential of this site. Here’s a gallery of some of the pictures I snapped then.
In August 2024 a large group gathered for the launch of the first wines from Bastard Hill under the Giant Steps label. This had been purchased by Giant Steps in 2022.
It’s a special site, high up in the Yarra near Gladysdale, and the difference here is that it is surrounded by temperate rain forest, with tree ferns: quite different to the rest of the Yarra. Ray Guerin planted this vineyard beginning in 1987, and moved to live here with his family. Initially there was a small consortium of investors, but this grew rapidly. Initially this was a planting for sparkling wine, but soon people began to realise the fruit from this marginal site had potential for still wines, too. Fairly soon, Hardys bought out all the investors. The fruit was supposed to go to Ed Carr for Arras fizz, but others in the company, such as Steve Pannell, wanted some.
A short film that shows Ray and Melanie introducing the vineyard:
It’s planted exclusively to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Chardonnay is mainly I10V1 clone, while Pinot is MV6 and D5V12, a sparkling clone. Ray says that the cost of farming here is A$10 000 more per hectare than the valley floor. They employ two people per 13 hectares, where the norm in the valley is one.
Nick Ryan, introducing the launch event, said ‘some of us are old enough to remember the early wines from this site.’ He says that the wines, and the stories behind the wines, made an impact. ‘The myth around Bastard Hill started to emerge. This is a vineyard landscape unlike anywhere else in the country. It is a unique place to pursue great wines. We have seen glimpses of what it can do.’
Steve Flamsteed also saw the potential of the site, but noted that great vintages were few and far between.
Nick added, ‘we are at the beginning of something special. Remember this day: this is a significant point in Australian wine.’
There are two distinct parts to the 13 hectare vineyard, which can be picked as far as seven days apart. Falling down from the central ridge we have the north side that slopes down to Wombat Creek, and the south side that slopes down to Hoddles Creek. This south side is very steep in parts, and it also has a large unplanted area where Hardys ripped out vines that were deemed to be in plots that were too marginal. These will be replanted in time. ‘We are really right at the top of the Yarra,’ says Melanie. ‘We talk about the Yarra being semi-continental, especially on the valley floor,’ she says. ‘But up here we are so high, we get those southern breezes. There are days that I come up here during summer where it is 4-5 degrees cooler than the base of the valley floor, and you get that lovely influence from the ocean.’
Giant Steps are now restoring the vineyard to peak condition. Some replanting will take place, and eventually Bastard Hill will be 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot, partly for risk mitigation in the cooler vintages (Chardonnay is less risky).
THE WINES
2023 single-vineyard releases
2023 has turned out to be an excellent year for Giant Steps, and these new releases are beautiful wines across the board. This was also the debut for the Bastard Hill wines, so there was quite a lot of anticipation around this.
‘I’m four vintages into the Yarra Valley,’ says Ash Wood, ‘and the 2023 was a really interesting vintage, moderate in term of climate. 2021-2023 were very wet springs.
Then in January the rain stopped and there was a lovely long run through to vintage.’ In 2023 they picked their way through each of the blocks as they matured with no rushing. ‘It was a gentle vintage, soft on the fruit, and vines didn’t have too much stress,’ says Ash. ‘It delivered fantastic quality, maintaining baseline acidity.’ This was the latest ripening season for Giant Steps. ‘It’s the greatest Chardonnay year I’ve seen in the Yarra,’ says consultant winemaker Steve flamstead. ‘It was on the edge.’\
Tarraford Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley
Mostly P58 clone. Lovely fruit intensity here. This is a superbly balanced Chardonnay with a lovely dynamic range, with powerful citrus and some pear and white peach fruit, with lovely fruit, a fine grapefruit-like acidity, and some subtle toasty, spicy notes in the mix. There’s some richness, but it finishes alert and bright with amazing precision on the finish. Thrilling, with weight and complexity, and also some generosity. 96/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley
Lively, bright and intense with linear citrus fruit. There’s some nice lemony sourness under the pear and white peach fruit, with amazing intensity to the bright fruit. Lovely acid line here: precise, and also has a touch of structure. It’s very primary and intense now, with massive potential for development. 95/100
Applejack Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley
This is so intense: lovely lemon and pineapple fruit with a lovely chiselled acid line, showing pear, lime and grapefruit, as well as a hint of more exotic apricot/pineapple around the edge. There’s a natural density to this wine. So lovely. 96/100
Bastard Hill Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley
This is taut, concentrated and very fine. There’s a lovely purity to the lemon and lime fruit, with just a slight hint of peach and pear richness, showing lovely crystalline fruit with a stony minerality sitting underneath. Not showy: this is restrained and intense with lovely precision, and potential for development. One of Australia’s great Chardonnays. 97/100
Bastard Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 Yarra Valley
Very fine, floral and aromatic. Sweet cherries and strawberries with some fine fruity notes. So refined and elegant. The palate is bright, silky but with nice definition and structure, with lovely elegance and refinement. Fine herbal and cured meat notes add complexity, with a hint of white pepper. Nice grip on the finish. Thrilling wine with floral fruit and nice elegance, but also potential for development. 96/100
Primavera Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 Yarra Valley
Nice precision and delicacy here. Floral and bright with nice grip, but nothing heavy at all. Cherries, raspberries, some wild strawberry, as well as a touch of tomato, with nice flow across the palate. Very fine and bright, showing a bit of structure. Such prettiness. 95/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 Yarra Valley
Lovely density here, and a bit of wildness. Iodine, spice and some cured meat savouriness as well as bright cherry and strawberry fruit. This is really fine with some edges to it, in the nicest way. Nice grip and weight with nice fruit presence. 95/100
Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023 Yarra Valley
Great concentration here, with nice intensity. Robust red cherry and berry fruits with a touch of strawberry, and well integrated savoury characters. It’s a complete wine, with concentration and harmony, lots of fruit, and some structure. There’s flesh that covers all the bones in a really nice way. 95/100
Coal River Valley Pinot Noir 2023 Tasmania
This is quite powerful with a real density of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit, with a touch of pepper, and some spicy oak in the mix too. Lovely concentrated, well-defined fruit with a bit of grip on the finish. Give this time to settle down, and I think it will be lovely. 94/100
2022 single-vineyard releases
Giant Steps Tarraford Chardonnay 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
This is the most northerly and lowest elevation vineyard, and although it should be the warmest because of this, it isn’t. It’s a small vineyard planted to P58 clone and leased from the Long family. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed after cooling, using the a gentle cycle. The pristine juice goes to barrel (all 500 litres, 10% new) with full solids and is handled oxidatively. Wild ferment. Taut and linear with subtle mealy notes. Mineral and finely spiced with layered citrus and white peach fruit. Fine, delicate with lovely freshness and precision. Fine spices on the finish. 94/100
Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
This is the home vineyard, planted in 1997, and it’s a 30 hectare site with 12 hectares of Chardonnay. Because of Phil Sexton’s connection to Margaret River he wanted to plant Gingin clone, but Melanie thinks that there’s a lot of Mendoza clone, which is quite similar, as well as some true gin gin. There’s also some of the Bernard clones, too. There are lots of different aspects to this site. This shows lovely texture and intensity. Mineral and taut with lemony notes and some subtle ginger and pear. Nice saltiness here and a touch of structure. Lovely detail and precision. 95/100
Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
This is in the upper Yarra, which is more sparsely planted, and is a sloping vineyard. Planted with a sparkling clone. Giant Steps are working on the canopy structure here trying to shelter the fruit, because they don’t like sunny skins on Chardonnay. It’s a 13 hectare vineyard with 2 hectares of Chardonnay. Restrained on the nose with hazelnut and almond, as well as some apple skin, some mealy hints, and delicate lemon. Linear and focused on the palate with good fruit, nice freshness and a sort of tension. 95/100
Giant Steps Primavera Pinot Noir 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
This is from 300 m, in the upper Yarra. Primavera is red volcanic basalt, quite a rare soil type in the Yarra, found in seams. 60 million years old, this is fertile and well draining soil, which gives the vines an easier life. One block is MV6 and the other is 115 and G8. Supple, elegant and fine with fine red cherry and redcurrant fruit. Fine, pure and delicate with lovely purity and finesse. Notes of pomegranate and cranberry. Has a sense of delicacy. 94/100
Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
Clones Abel, MV6, Pommard, 114, 115. There’s a lovely purity of fruit here: raspberry and strawberry with nice spicy notes. There’s a richness and silkiness but also some nice tannin. Lovely fruit presence with really fine structure, as well as hints of beetroot and plum, and fine pepper notes. Stays elegant but has ageing potential. 95/100
Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Yarra Valley, Australia
This comes from the best part of the vineyard, the middle belt, planted with G5V12, MV6 and Pommard clones. Highly aromatic, with ginger, spice and iodine, as well as spice and red fruits. The palate is supple and fine with lovely texture and silkiness, but also some grunt and spice, with a little red jelly and some saltiness, as well as sage and lavender notes. 94/100
Giant Steps Fatal Shore Pinot Noir 2022 Coal River Valley, Tasmania, Australia
‘There is so much diversity within Tasmania,’ says Melanie. Coal River is down south near Hobart, in a rain shadow from the west coast. It’s a dry, cold landscape. Three tributary valleys flow down into one central valley, and the best sites are on the east faces of these slopes, away from the frosty floors. They have been buying grapes from the Nocton vineyard since 2016. Supple, fine, elegant and pure with delicate red cherry and wild strawberry fruit. Such purity, balance and elegance with concentration but also finesse. Exotic but also elegant. 97/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay vertical
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2020
Lovely concentration of pear, peach and pineapple with fine spicy oak influence. Powerful citrus fruit character, too, with good acidity apparent. Bold and intense with some waxy notes on the finish, as well as a touch of ginger. Such intensity to this wine. 94/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2021
Steve Flamsteed’s last season as chief winemaker. La Niña season with a warm but long finish to the season. Fresh, supple and vivid with nice pear and white peach fruit and well as some nice citrus freshness. Really intense with lovely fruit intensity, some sour acidity, lovely texture and some waxy complexity, but also some nice texture with a hint of creaminess, as well as some hazelnut. The power evident in 2020 is tempered a little bit here. 95/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2022
Melanie’s first vintage. Very challenging spring with high rainfall. Cold and rainy. Half the normal crop because of small bunch sizes and weights. Lovely finesse here with nice weight and some fine spicy notes as well as pure pear and citrus fruit. Some power and intensity here with some spiciness on the palate, and lovely bread, hazelnut and bold citrus. Fresh and expressive with a lovely intensity and balance. 95/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
Cold wet spring and cold summer. The coldest summer seen in this region. Fresh and vivid with keen acidity and crystalline citrus fruit driving things, as well as a touch of pineaple. Melanie describes this as having a ceramic-like frame, which I agree with. Bold, fine and even structured with notes of ginger, lime and grapefruit pith on the finish. 95/100
Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2011
Another cold vintage. Toast, mandarin, honey and bread. There’s nice development here with delicacy as well as depth. Very stylish with a lovely citrus line, good acidity, and maybe even some saltiness. This is really good. 94/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir vertical
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020
Wonderful aromatics here with sweet raspberry and cranberry with some distinctive iron and rhubarb hints. The palate has wonderful texture with sweet strawberry and cherry fruit with some richness, and also some spicy savoury notes and a bit of tannic bite. Has a wide dynamic range with good structure, and potential for further development. Real finesse and purity. 94/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
60% whole cluster. This is a beautiful Pinot Noir. Concentrated but really well balanced with powerful red cherry, wild strawberry and dried herb characters. There’s a lovely texture to this wine with brightness on the finish but a warmth on the mid-palate, and some silkiness, framed by nice tannins. Has some blood and spice savouriness. Has some tomato umami, too. 96/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 (magnum)
Complex and primary with pure raspberry and cherry fruit with some sweet, silky characters. Lovely density here. Complex, showing a core of sweet fruit, but then some savoury notes. This is brooding and a bit mysterious, but has a sweet core of fruit that makes this accessible now, although there’s a lot of promise for the future. 95/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
40% whole cluster. Taut and vivid with ginger, some spice and some herbal savouriness, as well as focused raspberry and cherry fruit. Bright, purposeful and nicely complex. There’s a slight savoury streak on the finish with tapering berry and sour cherry fruit. Very fine. 95/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018
Smooth and sweet with warm cherry and plum fruit, as well as some wild strawberry. Has some softness on the finish with a core of sweet fruit. Warm, sweet and finely spiced on the finish. Very expressive with nice soft fruit, but lacking the precision and character of more modern vintages. 93/100
Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010
A perfect vintage in the Yarra. Some development here with sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with some nice silkiness. Has herbs, cherries, iodine and blood with some herbs and spice. This is drinking really well now. Has a slight hardness on the finish, stopping abruptly. 93/100
