2023 Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay

Highly Rated
Remarkable debut release from Giant Steps, reinvigorating this iconic Yarra Valley site.

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Description

Halliday Wine Companion's Winery of the Year!
"Giant Steps, right now, breathes rare air. 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... In short, it’s a thrilling range to drink from."
- Campbell Mattinson (Halliday Wine Companion)

The Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is a notable new addition to the Giant Steps single vineyard range, with 2023 being the first release under the leadership of winemaker Mel Chester.

Planted by the legendary Ray Guerin in 1986, this site in Gladysdale sits at elevations between 300 and 400 metres, providing a cool climate and volcanic loam soils that are perfect for producing Chardonnay of exceptional purity and focus. Acquired by Giant Steps in 2022, Bastard Hill has long been celebrated as one of Australia’s great Chardonnay sites, initially producing high-quality sparkling wine and later becoming renowned for its still wines.

The 2023 vintage was marked by cool temperatures and a late harvest, allowing for excellent fruit concentration and natural acidity. The Chardonnay grapes, characterised by small bunches, were handpicked and whole-bunch pressed. Fermentation took place in 500L French oak puncheons, with 25% undergoing malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured for nine months in a combination of second-use and seasoned oak, adding complexity without overwhelming the fruit's inherent character.

This Chardonnay offers an enticing bouquet of nashi pear, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, and a hint of honeysuckle. On the palate, it is incisive and chalky, with flavours of lemon, pear, and a whisper of sea spray. The wine balances concentrated intensity with a gentle creaminess, showcasing its potential to age gracefully.

Giant Steps continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with Yarra Valley Chardonnay, and this new wine further enhances their reputation as one of the region's, and country's, finest producers.

98 points
"This is its first wine from the vineyard. And what a wine it is! A brilliant and pure scented bouquet of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray and honeysuckle. There's a hint of fresh honeycomb, too. Incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne. That it will age gracefully is a given." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 points
"It’s intense, it’s bony, and it’s long. It’s very Upper Yarra. It showed a bit of cedarwood oak when I first opened it, as in a bit too much, but once it had been allowed to breathe it seemed precisely in balance. This wine tastes of grapefruit and chalk, lemon and pear, with musk and sea-spray characters driven within. It has genuine, penetrative momentum, tempered by a gentle, textural creaminess. Flint is not part of the Giant Steps style but there’s a smidgen of it here, just enough to complex. This chardonnay is nothing if not a wine for the cellar. It doesn’t want you to flirt with it; it wants you to invest."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

98 points - "Planted in 1987 in Gladysdale at 400m by the trailblazing Ray Guerin for Hardys and purchased by Giant Steps in 2022. This is its first wine from the vineyard. And what a wine it is! A brilliant and pure scented bouquet of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray and honeysuckle. There's a hint of fresh honeycomb, too. Incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne. That it will age gracefully is a given." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 points - "It’s intense, it’s bony, and it’s long. It’s very Upper Yarra. It showed a bit of cedarwood oak when I first opened it, as in a bit too much, but once it had been allowed to breathe it seemed precisely in balance. This wine tastes of grapefruit and chalk, lemon and pear, with musk and sea-spray characters driven within. It has genuine, penetrative momentum, tempered by a gentle, textural creaminess. Flint is not part of the Giant Steps style but there’s a smidgen of it here, just enough to complex. This chardonnay is nothing if not a wine for the cellar. It doesn’t want you to flirt with it; it wants you to invest." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

96 points - "This wine is shaped very differently from its predecessors in this vineyard – most notably Eileen Hardy Chardonnay – even though it still features only I10V1 clone fruit. The difference is due to an open-hearted winemaking approach from Melanie Chester, allowing rich fruit notes to relax in a luscious mouthfeel. A quarter of the grapes go through malolactic fermentation to soften any austerity from a powerful acid seam running through the palate. This highly impressive result comes before any significant vineyard improvements by the Giant Steps team at Bastard Hill have taken effect, proving that this single site wine will generate even greater excitement into the future." - David Sly (Decanter)

SEASON:

2023 was a small, high-quality vintage in the Yarra Valley. The season was defined by a cool Spring, a mild growing season, cool nights, and medium to high rainfall.
2023 was one of the coolest and latest harvests on record, with our first pick starting two and a half weeks later than the previous average. The grapes in 2023 had lovely fruit concentration with bright natural acidities.


VINIFICATION:

100% handpicked - very small bunches. Whole bunch pressed, juice transferred to barrel by gravity with no settling.
Fermentation in 500L French puncheons, some of which went through
malolactic fermentation (25%).

Maturation for 9 months in used French oak – 25% 2nd use and 75%
seasoned, Mercurey, Taransaud and Dargaud & Jaeglé.


THE VINEYARD:

Location: Gladysdale

Planted: 1986

Elevation: 380 metres

Soil Type: Volcanic loam (red / ferrous)

Aspect: North and south facing slopes

Size: 13 Hectares

Situated in the Upper Yarra Valley in the sub-region of Gladysdale, Bastard Hill is a 31-hectare property with 13-hectares (32 acres) of vines, planted exclusively to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The vineyard’s expressive name is derived from its steep slope and high altitude, ranging in elevation from 300-400m. Bastard Hill is a celebrated site planted in the late 1980s by viticultural legend Ray Guerin. Dedicated initially to the production of super-premium sparkling wine, the site was quickly recognized for its potential to produce top quality still wines, releasing the Bastard Hill Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines in the
1990s. Regarded as one of the great Chardonnay sites in Australia, the 2023 vintage is our first release in the Giant Steps portfolio. We find Bastard Hill produces concentrated and rocky wines of purity and
focus.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Yarra Valley
Australian State VIC
Feature Women in Wine
High Score
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Front
Decanter
Critic Score 98
96
Alcohol 14%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Giant Steps

Giant Steps is a premium Yarra Valley outfit founded by Phil Sexton and located in the township of Healesville. Beginning with the vision of original head winemaker Steve Flamsteed, Giant Steps developed an international reputation for producing some of Australia's finest examples of single vineyard Pinot Noir & Chardonnay.

In 2021 the exceptionally talented Melanie Chester joined the team as the new head of winemaking and viticulture, marking an exciting new chapter in this elite producer's story.

Every aspect of the Giant Steps process is geared towards making truly world-class wines from the vineyard to the final bottled wine. The focus is on what the Yarra does best - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Shiraz/Syrah and Bordeaux-variety blends - and showcasing the unique terroirs of some of the region's finest vineyards.

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