Giant Steps Yarra Valley, Pinot Noir

Fruit for this wine is sourced from estate vineyards across the Yarra Valley, with 50% of the fruit sourced from the Upper Yarra ranges.

The 2024 vintage in the Yarra Valley was characterised by a classic season. A cool start to spring and ideal flowering conditions resulted in good fruit set and moderate yields. December experienced cool and mild weather, with significant rainfall at New Year and during the first week of January, providing the vines with ample hydration leading into the warmer month of February. Mid to late February was drier and warmer than usual, creating excellent ripening conditions with no disease pressure and a rapid harvest. In 2024, all Pinot and Chardonnay grapes were ready in quick succession, leading to a compressed harvest period of three weeks, compared to the usual six weeks. This expedited harvest resulted in wines with exceptional flavour, bright acidity and balance.

All Giant Steps fruit is 100% hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard. Pinot Noir is handled in one of two ways at Giant Steps; it is either fermented semi carbonic with 100% whole bunch or destemmed and fermented with whole berries. The whole bunch batches are fermented warm with minimal mixing for 14 days. The destemmed whole berry parcels are cold soaked for 3 days before they are allowed to warm up and start fermentation naturally. All cap management is done using gravity drain and returns, allowing for gentle extraction before pressing. Each parcel is then transferred by gravity to French oak barriques for malolactic fermentation and is kept on lees for the duration of its maturation. Parcels are matured in French oak (10% new, 90% older) for eight months. This wine is then blended in October and bottled by gravity without fining or filtration in November.