Giant Steps Single Vineyard Coal River Valley Pinot Noir 2023
The wine is brooding in nature with impressive depth and fruit purity. Red cherry, rose petal, raspberry and strawberry aromas lead to an energetic palate with fine, firm tannins. It is long and vibrant with a fine backbone of acidity.
In their obsession with Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs from great Pinot growing areas, Giant Steps have ventured to Tasmania: as far south (and as cold) as you can go in Australia. Despite the cool temperatures, the sunlight hours are long and intense. The 34- hectare Nocton Vineyard in the Coal River Valley was planted to Pinot Noir clones MV6 and D5V12 in1999. It is a north-east facing site on calcareous and sandstone soils. The fruit for this particular wine comes from the Tea Tree subregion at the northern end of the Coal River Valley.
The fruit was handpicked before being immediately placed into refrigerated containers parked on the vineyard. The fruit was then driven to Devonport and sailed across Bass Strait, ready for the winery to receive it the following morning. The fruit was destemmed and cold soaked for three to four days in open oak vats and open stainless steel fermenters. The MV6 (from the top of the hill) was fermented as whole bunches in an oak fermenter. Both parcels were matured in French oak – 25% new, 75% older – for eight months in 225L barriques. The wine was racked to blend, undergoing no fining or filtration ahead of bottling.
Giant Steps was founded by Margaret River native Phil Sexton in 1997. With the help of winemaker Steve Flamsteed, Giant Steps forged a reputation as one of the Yarra Valley’s most exciting producers, crafting cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from single sites. Since Mel Chester joined as Head of Winemaking and Viticulture in 2021, the winery has reached even greater heights. As a result, Giant Steps received the coveted title of ‘Winery of the Year’ in the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, with Campbell Mattinson commenting, “it’s been an outstanding winery for a long time, but the combination of energy and expertise – and no doubt plenty more besides – that winemaker Melanie Chester has brought since she arrived at the winery in November 2021 has frankly been breathtaking.”
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