Giant Steps Coal River Pinot Noir 2023

Product Information: A world apart from Yarra’s terroir. Coal River vineyard has produced a very polished wine, everything is dialled up to give a sense of luxury. The depth of fruit, quality oak, even the velvety feel of the tannin. The palate is sumptuous and smooth, a nice volume to the fruit in this wine and tannin, without any hard edges. Top notch. Handpicked, straight into a refrigerated container parked on the vineyard. The fruit is then immediately driven to Devonport and sailed across Bass Strait to arrive at the winery in Healesville the following morning. Fruit was destemmed and cold soaked for three – four days in open oak vats and open stainless-steel fermenters. The MV6 (from the rockiest soils at the top of the hill) was fermented as whole bunches in an oak fermenter. Both parcels were matured in French oak – 25% new, 75% seasoned – for eight months in 225L barriques D&J, Vicard and Taransaud. Bottled by gravity. No fining. No filtration. From GM and Head Winemaker at Giant Steps, Melanie Chest, “We have intentionally delayed the release to give the wines the time they deserved to express the purity of the vintage,” Chester notes. “I am so happy we made that choice—the wines are singing as we head into their release in August. Thanks for your patience, as I know many of you look forward each year to the new bottles from your favourite vineyards. We are especially excited that this release features our first expressions from Bastard Hill and highlights the stunning 2023 vintage. We hope you love the wines are much as we do.” The Giant Steps team are totally rapt after being named Winery of the Year and the 2023 Applejack Pinot Noir Best Pinot Noir at the 2025 Halliday Companion Awards. “It’s really wonderful to see the dedication and hard work of our entire Giant Steps team acknowledged in such a profound way,” says Melanie Chester. Giant Steps have an unwavering commitment to create pure and finessed wines that tell the stories of their vertiginous sites. Giant Steps vineyards have some of, if not the most exciting vineyards in the country. Maker: Since 1997, Giant Steps has built a reputation based on expressive wines with purity and finesse out of Yarra Valley. These are wines that reflect individual vineyard sites, located across the Yarra Valley from Tarrawarra to Gladysdale. Giant Steps was founded by wine industry pioneer Phil Sexton, who journeyed from Margaret River to Yarra Valley looking for the ideal site to cultivate pure and finessed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Eventually, Phil found his hallowed ground near Gruyere in the Sexton vineyard, which he planted in 1997 on the steep slopes of the Warramate Ranges. The name comes from John Coltrane’s album “Giant Steps”, which felt like a fitting choice given the steep slopes of the vineyard and Phil’s love of jazz. In 2003, Winemaker Steve Flamsteed came aboard, another muso, and the two set about producing a range of iconic Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that express a profound sense of place from six finite sites in Yarra Valley. Melanie Chester, became Head of Winemaking and Viticulture at Giant Steps in 2021, her long-held admiration for the winery comes with an intrinsic pressure to honour the expressions and diversity of its single sites. Mel, says she is “committed to ensuring that the quality will be the same if not better.” This means keeping the winemaking tight and transparent, so that diversity of site is what you taste. Giant Steps has been advancing Australia’s reputation for cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the past 20 years, the addition of Mel’s craft and energy will ensure this legacy continues. The proof in the pudding. Giant Steps was awarded 2025 Halliday Winery of the Year and Pinot Noir of the Year. A huge achievement that’s been years in the making. Of course Mel takes none of the credit (the best seldom do), instead she props up everyone involved until now, founder Phil Sexton, winemaker Steve Flamsteed, grower Lou Primavera and respected viticulturist Ray Guerin. Vineyard: The 2023 season in Tasmania started cold and wet building a solid foundation with strong, healthy and generous bunch numbers. Plant growth was slow due to the cool conditions all the way up until just prior to flowering, when some well-timed heat spurred the vines along. Flowering was late, but consistent. Lots of shoot and crop thinning was done