Australian Collectible Wines

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: Woori Yallock – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025

The Wine

Primavera has been part of the Giant Steps story since fruit was first sourced from the vineyard in 2006. Planted by Lou Primavera in 2001 at Woori Yallock, the site sits on red volcanic clay soils in the Upper Yarra, with Pinot spread across two opposing slopes at the beginning of Lone Star Creek.

MV6 occupies the north-facing slope, while 115 and G clone sit on the opposing side. Historically, Primavera has produced the most overtly floral and red-fruited Pinot in the Giant Steps collection—raspberry, pomegranate and rose, often with a naturally soft, seductive texture.

The 2025 is more concentrated than usual. Each clone was fermented separately: the 115 was retained as 100% whole bunch, while MV6 and G clone were destemmed to whole berries, cold soaked and wild fermented. After around 18 days on skins, the final blend contained approximately 16% whole bunch. Full malolactic fermentation was followed by nine months in French oak barriques, around 18% new, with the wine retained on lees and bottled by gravity without fining or filtration.

This is still recognisably Primavera, but 2025 gives the site greater depth: damson, dark raspberry and violet rather than simply bright red fruit, with star anise, spice and more persistent tannins.

Cellared Says

Primavera is usually the prettiest Pinot in the Giant Steps lineup; 2025 gives it a bit more muscle. I like that contrast. It still has the perfume and red-fruit charm that makes Primavera so easy to love, but there’s considerably more structure underneath it this year. Definitely worth giving this vintage some cellar time.

Reviews

“A more concentrated and brooding Primavera. Aromas of damson plum, dark raspberry, lightly crushed violets and star anise.”

97+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

“Every sip oozes confidence, class, climate and site.”

95 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

Region: Tasmania
Sub Region: Coal River Valley – Nocton Vineyard
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025

The Wine

Coal River is the geographic outlier in the Giant Steps Single Vineyard collection and intentionally so. The fruit comes from Nocton Vineyard, planted in 1999 in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley. Its north-east-facing vines sit on calcareous and Triassic sandstone soils, with MV6 and D5V12 among the key Pinot clones.

The cool Tasmanian climate provides an obvious contrast to the Yarra, but Coal River’s long, intense daylight hours allow Pinot to build surprising depth and colour. The result is less overtly floral than Applejack or Primavera and noticeably more muscular: blackberry, dark cherry and bramble rather than delicate red berries.

The logistics themselves are unusual. Fruit is hand-picked and immediately loaded into refrigerated transport, travelling across Bass Strait to Giant Steps’ Yarra winery. In 2025 it was destemmed, cold soaked for three to four days and fermented in open oak vats and stainless-steel fermenters. The wine then spent eight months in French oak barriques, 21% new and 79% seasoned, before bottling by gravity without fining or filtration.

The 2025 is dense but finely controlled: dark cherry, blackberry, white and black pepper and violet, with compact tannins and a distinct mineral, slightly ferrous quality. It is unquestionably Pinot Noir, but it speaks a very different dialect from the four Yarra wines.

Cellared Says

I really like having this beside the Yarra Pinots because the contrast is so clear. Coal River is darker, denser and more muscular, but it still has the polish and fine tannin that runs through Mel Chester’s wines. It isn’t trying to imitate Applejack—it’s a completely different site, and that’s exactly the point. I’ve never quite got the previous vintages of this wine, but the warmer ‘25 vintage seems to have given this site extra depth and character. Its very good and whilst we shouldn’t compare to other famous sites nearby, I would buy this over the competition in 2025.

Reviews

“Concentrated with dark cherry, blackberry, white and black pepper and a little crushed violet.”

95+ Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

“A little bit more structure, a little more bass and fruit-grunt perhaps, the same polish, the same excellence.”

95+ Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

Region: Yarra Valley
Sub Region: Gladysdale – Upper Yarra Valley
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2025

The Wine

Bastard Hill is rapidly establishing itself as one of Australia’s great Chardonnay sites. Planted by Ray Guerin in the late 1980s on the steep slopes of Gladysdale, the vineyard rises towards 400 metres, making it one of the highest and coolest vineyards in the Giant Steps portfolio. Its deep red, ferrous volcanic soils and significant elevation give the wines an intensity that is matched by naturally high acidity.

The Chardonnay is drawn predominantly from the south-facing Block 7, which ripens dramatically later than the lower Yarra sites. In 2025 it was picked on 7 March—around a month after Tarraford and Sexton. This extended hang time without excessive sugar accumulation is fundamental to Bastard Hill’s character: flavour builds slowly while acidity and mineral tension remain intact.

The fruit was entirely hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, then transferred by gravity to 500-litre French oak puncheons without settling. There was no malolactic fermentation, and the wine spent nine months in oak, only around 17% of it new. The winemaking is deliberately restrained given the natural power of the vineyard.

Bastard Hill has a character all its own: crushed rock, nashi pear, grapefruit and orange blossom alongside wild honey, chamomile and a long saline line. The concentration is significant, but everything feels tightly packed rather than heavy.

NOTE: We are just await extra stock from the winery which will ship week commencing 7th Sep

Cellared Says

This is my must-have Chardonnay from the 2025 release. Bastard Hill has been getting better with every vintage and this feels like the point where the site has moved into genuinely elite territory. There’s more intensity than Applejack, but also extraordinary freshness and length. If allocation allows, this is the one I’d put away in quantity.

Reviews

“This is the third and best wine Giant Steps has made from this cool site.”

98 Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

“The most complete wine yet released under the Giant Steps Bastard Hill name; which is saying something.”

97 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front