Halliday Wine Companion’s 2025 ‘Winery of the Year’
Halliday Wine Companion’s 2025 ‘Winery of the Year’
Applejack Pinot Noir ‘Pinot Noir of the Year’
We typically love all of the wines, but special mention must go to the Applejack Pinot Noir which was crowned ‘Pinot Noir of the Year’ (with 98 points) in the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion which was released last week (early August, 2024). Giant Steps were also awarded ‘Winery of the Year’ - great recognition of the quality of this producer and their wines which seem to get better and better each release.
We are taking orders now with stock due to us by August 22nd. Please see notes and pricing below.
A selection of these wines will be open for tasting Saturday August 24th 12-6pm.
“The 2023 growing seasons was one of the coldest and latest on record, helping the vineyards produce wines of wonderful purity and tension. The long, cool ripening period and wet spring, the third La Niña in a row, led to a very steady walk into harvest. Challenging flowering conditions yielded below-average crop levels, but cool conditions and mild ripening allowed for a lovely accumulation of flavour and tannin development.” Giant Steps.
“I think you will notice the crystalline texture and pure voices of the Chardonnays, while the Pinots have a wonderful fleshiness and perfume.” Winemaker Melanie Chester
Giant Steps Sexton Pinot Noir 2023
From the Sexton vineyard in Gruyere; 10% whole bunches and matured nine months in French barriques (25% new). A deep ruby. Aromas of kirsch, damson plums, licorice root and spices; this heady, concentrated wine has a lot of meat on the bones, with ripe, persistent tannins boding well for the future. A great contrast to the more delicate Giant Steps wines such as Bastard Hill and Primavera. Drink 2024-2030. 97 points, Philip Rich, Halliday's Wine Companion.
Giant Steps Primavera Pinot Noir 2023
From Lou Primavera's 2001-planted vineyard at Woori Yallock; 15% whole bunches and matured in French barriques (25% new). A light, bright crimson. Aromas of strawberry compote, tamarillo, sage and rose petals. A little reduction and graphite too. The palate is succulent and plush with silky tannins, making this the yummo, drink-now, single-vineyard wine from Giant Steps in '23. Drink 2024-2028. 96 points, Philip Rich, Halliday's Wine Companion.
Giant Steps Applejack Pinot Noir 2023
Halliday's Wine Companion 2025 Pinot Noir of the Year
Pinot Noir of the Year. Named after the Applejack eucalypts that surround the vineyard, which was planted at Gladysdale in 1997 by Ray Guerin. Seven clones comprising 114, 115, MV6, D2V5, D5V15, Pommard and Abel. Whole bunches (40%) and 20-25% new French barriques. 2022 was a hard act to follow, but this superb wine gives it a shake. Exotic, aromatic and pure with its bouquet of wild strawberries, dark cherries, quince, spices and flowers. Densley packed, this saturates the palate, but, as always, it's light on its feet at the same time. Seamless tannins round out another benchmark for what's already a benchmark wine. Drink 2024-2030. 98 points. Philip Rich, Halliday's Wine Companion.
I tasted this wine a few months ago and loved it from the first sip. I have it on the desk now and there it is again, a glimmer in the glass. This wine is no one's fool. It's a pure expression of its place in the world and that place happens to be complex. It's a cool wine with straight trees of tannin, perfumed red and black berries, lines of spice and echoes of woodsmoke. It's a forest of a wine, a bit lush, a bit wet, a bit woody; verdant. At all times, as you drink it, the fruit comes at you like a swell. When you swallow this wine it flares out like you've reached the lookout at the end of a long walk. It's a good wine. And it's more than that. Drink 2025-2036+. 96 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.
