Giant Steps

Giant Steps is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery — Campbell Mattinson's highest honour.
Yarra Valley.

But for a technicality Giant Steps Applejack Pinot Noir 2012 would have been the first Pinot Noir to ever win the Jimmy Watson Trophy. Applejack Pinot noir is a modern star of Australian wine, as too are many of the Giant Steps single vineyard wines, as slowly but incredibly surely has Giant Steps itself become.

The case.

In 2024 the Giant Steps winery launched two new wines, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both from the same Bastard Hill vineyard in the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley. It was a moment both in time and as the result of time. As the article written here then said: “Giant Steps’ preparation for this moment has been long and specific. It’s been about lands, little lands, slices of vineyard.” In the Giant Steps range each year there are wines from the named vineyards of: Tarraford, Sexton, Wombat Creek, Primavera, Applejack and now Bastard Hill. In the past 20 years there have also been wines released from the named vineyards of: Arthurs Creek, Tosq, Nocton and Lusatia. No Australian winery has made the land its brand better than has Giant Steps.

For a couple of decades the maker behind these wines was Steve Flamsteed, a winemaker of considerable mind, thought, feel and good sense. His winemaking made the Giant Steps name famous and, in the process, he became a hero to lovers of Australian wine. He remains so. Flamsteed seemed throughout this period – to the world both inside and outside of Giant Steps – irreplaceable.

And then Melanie Chester walked into the building.

Giant Steps has been an outstanding winery for a long time, but under Melanie Chester it has come to breathe rare air. The wines each year are structural, immaculate and routinely superb. Indeed it has become true to say that both Chester and Giant Steps are, both individually and together, a force in Australian wine.

The wines that carry the case.

• [75 Giant Steps Wines] have scored 95 points or above on The Winefront site.

• Giant Steps Applejack Chardonnay 2025 (Yarra Valley): It’s difficult to imagine a more perfect Yarra Valley Chardonnay.

• Giant Steps Bastard Hill Chardonnay 2025 (Yarra Valley): Winefront.
  Giant Steps Applejack Pinot Noir 2022(Yarra Valley): Winefront.

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• See also [196 Reviews of Giant Steps] wines on The Winefront site, back to the 2001 release.
  See also [16 Reviews of Giant Steps Applejack Pinot Noir] on The Winefront site.
  See also [42 Reviews of Giant Steps Sexton] on The Winefront.

Giant Steps is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery – the highest honour awarded by Australian wine critic Campbell Mattinson. 10-Star status recognises one thing: the quality of the wine in the glass, every glass, across the range. The full list of 10-Star Wineries constitutes Australia's Best Wineries.