Giant Steps Winery is having a moment. After being crowned the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Winery of the Year – (the Halliday Wine Companion is basically the Aussie wine lover's bible) – this Yarra Valley gem has been thrust firmly into the spotlight in the Australian wine scene. The winery is known for crafting high quality single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that capture the essence of this cool-climate region. Often described as having a Burgundian style, their wines have garnered a loyal following since founding.

But let's rewind a bit. The story begins back in 1997 with beer and wine serial entrepreneur Phil Sexton who had already made a name for himself in Australian craft beers by co-founding the Matilda Bay Brewery and Little Creatures. He’s also made a first foray into winemaking with Devil's Lair in Western Australia, another acclaimed winery.

Phil arrived in the Yarra Valley with a vision: to showcase the unique terroir of the region and locate prime sites for producing top-tier Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This meant high altitudes (that tend to result in cooler temperatures and slower ripening fruit), aged soils (that would stress the vines and result in higher-quality fruit), slopes (that would receive better sunlight exposure) and generally cooler temperatures (that help preserve acidity in grapes). As Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grow best in cooler climates, Phil searched for sites that combined all of these factors to support their growth.

Avid jazz enthusiasts might recognise the winery's name – a nod to John Coltrane's iconic 1960 album "Giant Steps". Phil has been a big fan of jazz, and just as Coltrane pushed the boundaries of jazz, Phil wanted Giant Steps Winery to make similarly giant strides in producing exceptional cool-climate wines in the Yarra Valley.

And push boundaries they did. Beginning in 1997, they established the most iconic Sexton Vineyard on the north-facing slopes of the Warramate Hills in the southern Yarra Valley. The vines were planted on the top of the slop, and with thin topsoil and the challenging, rocky clay base with fractured mudstones, the vines are forced to dig deep, resulting in significantly lower yields but intensely concentrated fruit. This vineyard became the foundation for the winery's high end Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The sloping Sexton Vineyard.

But they didn't stop there. Giant Steps continued to expand its reach, acquiring other prime vineyard sites like the Applejack Vineyard in 2013, known for its higher altitude and nutrient-poor grey clay, and leasing high-quality sites such as Tarraford Vineyard. This expansion allowed Giant Steps to further diversify its portfolio and showcase the nuances of different terroirs within the Yarra Valley.

In 2003, Phil brought Steve Flamsteed on board as winemaker, and a couple of years later, they established a state-of-the-art winery in Healesville. The winery was designed with a gravity flow system, a technique that minimises the use of pumps, allowing the wine to be moved gently while reducing the risk of oxidation during the winemaking process.

Steve was instrumental in creating the now-revered range of Single Vineyard wines at Giant Steps, each one expressing the unique personality of its site. He's also said to have meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that even the entry-level wines receive a high level of care and attention. Under their leadership, Giant Steps earned widespread acclaim, with their Single Vineyard wines consistently receiving top scores from critics across Australia.

And I recently had the pleasure of experiencing firsthand a bottle of the Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay 2021. This Chardonnay was made from 60% Gingin grapes. Gingin is a specific clone of the Chardonnay grape that's quite popular in Australia. It's known for producing smaller berries with more concentrated flavors and higher acidity, and is often said to produce wines with citrus, stone fruit, and mineral notes. Many Australian winemakers favour using the Gingin clone for premium Chardonnay.

The grapes were whole-bunch pressed, a technique that minimizes the extraction of harsh tannins from the grape skins, and fermented in French oak puncheons, 20% of which were new.

Let’s give this a taste.

Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay, 2021 – Review

Tasting Notes

Nose: Rich and dense. First opens with a refined minerality, interwoven with the fruity sweetness of passion fruit and nectarines. A layer of subtle yeast emerges with some salinity of a coastal breeze and a touch of petroleum jelly sweetness in the background.

Palate: Sweet, ripe and steely. Opens with a juicy mix of appley and citrusy notes intertwining with tropical notes of passionfruit. The texture is lightly viscous. Some notes of fresh cream and a subtle pastry-like aroma. As the wine develops, a sprightly acidic backbone emerges with a growing minerality, transitioning from the initial fruitiness to a steely character of wet slate and a dry zestiness.

Finish: Clean and moderate in length, leaving a lasting impression of eucalyptus and a touch of lemon rind's zesty bitterness.

My Thoughts:

This is a solid Chardonnay with thrilling intensity and a pleasant texture. It’s a flavourful basket of orchard fruits balanced by taut acidity, with prominent, refreshing minerality that is particularly enjoyable.

Technically outstanding, and yet I believe it would become spectacular with  another 3 to 4 years of ageing to allow further complexity and nuttiness to develop.

@CharsiuCharlie