Giant Steps "Sexton Vineyard" Chardonnay 2021 ~ Yarra Valley Australia

97/100 Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion
96/100 Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
95/100 Wine Enthusiast
95/100 The Wine Front
95/100 James Suckling
94/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review
92/100 CellarTracker
17/20 Jancis Robinson

95/100 Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion (2020 vintage)
94/100 Wine Enthusiast (2020 vintage)
93/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review (2020 vintage)
92/100 Decanter (2020 vintage)
90/100 CellarTracker (2020 vintage)
96/100 The Wine Front (2019 vintage)
95/100 James Suckling (2019 vintage)
93/100 Wine Spectator (2019 vintage)
92/100 Tom Cannavan (2019 vintage)
91/100 CellarTracker (2019 vintage)
17/20 Jancis Robinson (2019 vintage)

5 Star Winery - James Halliday

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion "Made mainly from WA's Gingin clone and planted in Gruyere on the same grey clay as Applejack. Whole bunches pressed into French puncheons with 20% new oak. Smells tightly wound and concentrated with aromas of ripe peach and nectarine, together with just a hint of lanolin and apple custard. Equally powerful and punchy on the palate. This has more of everything, including sprightly acid and some phenolic grip on the very long, stone-fruit pithy finish. Today, this is my pick of the 4 single-vineyard 2021 chardonnays, but who knows what will come out on top in 5 or even 10 years from now!"

Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate "This is made with fruit from the Sexton Vineyard, at 200 meters in altitude (80 meters higher than Tarraford). Within the vineyard, the clones are dominated by Gingin (brought over to Victoria by Phil Sexton), followed by Dijon clones, planted in the 1990s. The 2021 Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay is composed of 60% Gingin. Twenty percent of the parcels went through malolactic fermentation—clone 277 and some of the 96. This is salty as anything—a very good thing in my book—and the sheer intensity of flavor in the mouth is mouthwatering. Preserved lemon and grapefruit pith lace the edges of the mid-palate. Very smart—it has the Yarra precision of acid and streamlined phenolics, but it brings concentration of flavor and thrilling phenolics. Super smart wine."

Wine Enthusiast "From one of the Yarra's most renowned vineyards, on steep loam and clay slopes in the Warramate Ranges, this vintage of Sexton again proves a sublimely classy bottling. Layered and bright aromas of preserved lemon, melon and fresh cream, strewn with flower petals and softly framed by toasty oak open. The mouth-watering, citrusy acidity and silky texture work seamlessly together, supported by the fine-grained oak, with a long lemon-curd finish. Harmonious and elegant without shying away from structure and age-worthiness."

James Suckling "A rich and textural chardonnay with tons of ripe pear fruit and floral complexity. On the concentrated palate this has a serious tannin structure and a bright mineral acidity that interlocks very neatly. Long, generous and complete finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap."

Huon Hooke, The Real Review "A trace of smoky, toasted timber leads into a restrained and quite delicate wine with properly dry balance and some length. It looks to need a bit more time. Refreshing lemony finish. Tense and coiled and ready to unfold more in time."

Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion "Perhaps the most approachable of the single-vineyard chardonnays, as it's flavoursome and rich without being over-the-top. Expect beeswax, white florals and some ginger spice, plus lots of texture and concentrated flavours across the full palate. Importantly, everything is in balance. There’s a neat acid line too and this is just right for drinking now, rather than cellaring."(2020 vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "This single vineyard beauty, from a restrained and acid-driven Chardonnay vintage in the Yarra Valley, leads with reductive flint and nut characters. They're woven in with more delicate aromas like stone fruit, waxy lemon, white spice, orchard blossoms and wet stones. Toasty oak is there too, but it's well tucked. The mouthfeel is beautifully balanced, with prickly, citrusy acidity and supportive oak. Precise yet still characterful, this is an excellent, food friendly example of modern Aussie Chard. Drink now–2032."(2020 vintage)

Huon Hooke, The Real Review "Malty, lanolin, raw almond aromas, delicate, refined, subtle and beautifully balanced. Tastes quite different to a Gingin clone wine from, say, Margaret River. Intense, very fine and long and there's a gentle grip on the finish that helps cleanse the aftertaste."(2020 vintage)

Decanter "Measured use of oak helps to highlight the intrinsic potential for complexity of the Sexton Vineyard. 2020 was a vintage with particularly low yields with small bunches of intense yet fresh fruit. Giant Steps made the best of it, seen here in a wine with lemon, apple and melon, underpinned by a strong mineral backbone, firm acidity and honeyed richness. Good ageing potential."(2020 vintage)

James Suckling, "This has a savory, crushed stone edge to the nose with fresh pastry, as well as white peaches, lemon pastry and hazelnuts with honeysuckle and citrus blossom. The palate has an alluring density that holds very long into the peach, lemon and pastry-flavored finish. A spark of zesty lemon to close." (2019 vintage)

Tom Cannavan, "Some granite and ironstone influence on the clay loam soils here, the wine whole bunch pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 500L French puncheons. Matured for 10 months in barrel (20% new) it did not go through malolactic and there was no batonnage. Very clean and mineral and fruit driven on the nose, the oak less prominent on this one. Very juicy and ripe in style, though the sharpness of the acid structure gives lovely focus, a rounding touch of barrel character easing the finish. Stylish."(2019 vintage)

Giant Steps is a privately owned, estate based, Yarra Valley grower and winemaker. Giant Steps has forged a reputation for delivering some of Australia’s most consistent, over-performing, varietal wines. These wines have received global acclaim and established a strong reputation in restaurants and fine wine stores around the world.

Since 2003 Giant Steps wines have collectively been awarded 19 trophies and over 50 gold medals at major international and domestic wine shows, and has been named one of the Top 100 Wineries in the World by Wine & Spirits Magazine, US for each of the last three years. Owner Phil Sexton came to wine via beer. He started Little Creatures, a favourite of Aussie hopheads, in Perth (Western Australia). Winemaker Steve Flamsteed works exclusively on Giant Steps single vineyard wines. Yarra Valley is a region with a cool climate, best known for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Yarra Valley is an hour’s drive east of Melbourne. Located on the steep north facing slopes of the Warramate Ranges, alongside the vineyards of Yarra Yering and Coldstream Hills, the Sexton vineyard is exposed and demanding.

Being on the higher slopes, topsoil is thin and root systems have established themselves in shallow gravelly loams above a tough rocky clay base. Bunch yields set naturally low in this environment, facilitating a low intervention approach to what is otherwise hand tended viticulture. Biodynamic vineyard management principles are being introduced with the purpose of further distinguishing the site and improving grape and wine quality.