Region: Yarra Valley
Sub Region: Gladysdale – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025
The Wine
Applejack has become one of the benchmark Pinot Noir vineyards of the Yarra Valley. The vineyard was planted by Ray Guerin in 1997 on a steep east-facing slope at Gladysdale, where altitude, volcanic basalt and a long growing season combine to produce Pinot of exceptional perfume and fine but persistent tannin.
There is also significant clonal diversity—MV6, Pommard, Abel and D clones—which allows Giant Steps to build complexity without sacrificing site definition. The 100-metre change in elevation from the bottom to the top of the vineyard creates further variation in ripening and structure.
For 2025, one parcel of MV6 was fermented as whole bunches, while the remaining clones were destemmed to whole berries and given a four-day cold soak before wild fermentation. The final blend contains 15% whole bunch. All parcels matured on lees for ten months in French oak barriques, only 15% new, before gravity bottling without fining or filtration.
Applejack’s hallmark perfume is spectacular in 2025: wild strawberry, raspberry, peony and bergamot, moving into red cherry, forest berries, tea and spice. The attraction is not merely fragrance—the tannin architecture underneath is exceptionally fine and persistent.
Cellared Says
Probably the easiest recommendation in the Pinot range. Applejack has the perfume and sweet-fruited charm to make it immediately appealing, but the tannins and length tell you this is a very serious wine. If I were buying one Giant Steps Pinot to both drink and cellar from 2025, this would be very hard to go past.
Reviews
“Not sure I've tasted a better Applejack Pinot, which is saying something.”
98+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
“Stunning pinot noir. Exceptionally fragrant, dramatically well structured and then just so impressively persistent.”
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Region: Yarra Valley
Sub Region: Gladysdale – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025
The Wine
Applejack has become one of the benchmark Pinot Noir vineyards of the Yarra Valley. The vineyard was planted by Ray Guerin in 1997 on a steep east-facing slope at Gladysdale, where altitude, volcanic basalt and a long growing season combine to produce Pinot of exceptional perfume and fine but persistent tannin.
There is also significant clonal diversity—MV6, Pommard, Abel and D clones—which allows Giant Steps to build complexity without sacrificing site definition. The 100-metre change in elevation from the bottom to the top of the vineyard creates further variation in ripening and structure.
For 2025, one parcel of MV6 was fermented as whole bunches, while the remaining clones were destemmed to whole berries and given a four-day cold soak before wild fermentation. The final blend contains 15% whole bunch. All parcels matured on lees for ten months in French oak barriques, only 15% new, before gravity bottling without fining or filtration.
Applejack’s hallmark perfume is spectacular in 2025: wild strawberry, raspberry, peony and bergamot, moving into red cherry, forest berries, tea and spice. The attraction is not merely fragrance—the tannin architecture underneath is exceptionally fine and persistent.
Cellared Says
Probably the easiest recommendation in the Pinot range. Applejack has the perfume and sweet-fruited charm to make it immediately appealing, but the tannins and length tell you this is a very serious wine. If I were buying one Giant Steps Pinot to both drink and cellar from 2025, this would be very hard to go past.
Reviews
“Not sure I've tasted a better Applejack Pinot, which is saying something.”
98+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
“Stunning pinot noir. Exceptionally fragrant, dramatically well structured and then just so impressively persistent.”
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
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