Region: Yarra Valley
Sub Region: Gladysdale – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025
The Wine
Applejack is one of Giant Steps’ defining Upper Yarra vineyards. Planted by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin in 1997, the vineyard climbs a dramatic east-facing slope in Gladysdale, with grey clay loam sitting over basalt and volcanic rock. Its elevation and exposure give Applejack a growing season several weeks longer than the central Yarra, and that coolness is immediately apparent in the Chardonnay.
Only around 1.8 hectares of Applejack are planted to Chardonnay, and production can amount to little more than a handful of barrels. The site naturally produces a finer, more mineral wine than Tarraford or Sexton: lemon, white peach and wet stone, with a firm, almost ceramic-textured palate rather than overt creaminess.
The 2025 was entirely hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. Juice went directly to 500-litre French oak puncheons with full solids for wild fermentation. Importantly, there was no bâtonnage and no malolactic fermentation, preserving the naturally high acidity of the site. The wine spent nine months in oak, with just 12% new wood in the final blend.
That restrained cellar work allows Applejack to remain exceptionally pure. The 2025 is all line and detail: lemon, white flowers, restrained stone fruit and flint, carried by a fine seam of acidity and a long, precise finish.
Cellared Says
Applejack Chardonnay is for those who prefer their Chardonnay fine rather than broad. There’s very little winemaking makeup here—no malo, no bâtonnage and minimal new oak—so what you get is the cool site laid bare. I think this is one of the most classically proportioned whites in the release and one that should become substantially more interesting with five or six years in bottle. Not a lot of this due to vineyard size.
Reviews
“The palate is equally restrained, with a lovely fine vein of acidity that runs through the wine.”
96+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
“Pure, long, showing a little more flint than usual… Fantastic wine. Compelling. Intense.”
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Region: Yarra Valley
Sub Region: Gladysdale – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025
The Wine
Applejack is one of Giant Steps’ defining Upper Yarra vineyards. Planted by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin in 1997, the vineyard climbs a dramatic east-facing slope in Gladysdale, with grey clay loam sitting over basalt and volcanic rock. Its elevation and exposure give Applejack a growing season several weeks longer than the central Yarra, and that coolness is immediately apparent in the Chardonnay.
Only around 1.8 hectares of Applejack are planted to Chardonnay, and production can amount to little more than a handful of barrels. The site naturally produces a finer, more mineral wine than Tarraford or Sexton: lemon, white peach and wet stone, with a firm, almost ceramic-textured palate rather than overt creaminess.
The 2025 was entirely hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. Juice went directly to 500-litre French oak puncheons with full solids for wild fermentation. Importantly, there was no bâtonnage and no malolactic fermentation, preserving the naturally high acidity of the site. The wine spent nine months in oak, with just 12% new wood in the final blend.
That restrained cellar work allows Applejack to remain exceptionally pure. The 2025 is all line and detail: lemon, white flowers, restrained stone fruit and flint, carried by a fine seam of acidity and a long, precise finish.
Cellared Says
Applejack Chardonnay is for those who prefer their Chardonnay fine rather than broad. There’s very little winemaking makeup here—no malo, no bâtonnage and minimal new oak—so what you get is the cool site laid bare. I think this is one of the most classically proportioned whites in the release and one that should become substantially more interesting with five or six years in bottle. Not a lot of this due to vineyard size.
Reviews
“The palate is equally restrained, with a lovely fine vein of acidity that runs through the wine.”
96+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
“Pure, long, showing a little more flint than usual… Fantastic wine. Compelling. Intense.”
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
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