Giant Steps Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2017
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Suckling
James -
Spirits
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Spectator
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Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Simply put, this is one of the best value Australian chardonnays being made. It has a magic marriage of well-judged complexity with grapefruit, peaches, lemons and nectarines wrapped in a gun flinty and hazelnutty shroud of complexity. The palate merges pastry-like smoothness and concentration with electrifying acid freshness.
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Wine & Spirits
This is the third year in a row that the Yarra Chardonnay from Giant Steps performed at the top of its range—alongside, or above, the winery’s single-vineyard wines, and above most other Aussie chardonnays. It’s a remarkable achievement for a $30 wine. Steve Flamsteed is the force behind this persistently delicious chardonnay, blending it from five vineyards (mostly estate-grown), tending it in a gravity-flow winery where he allows the wine to ferment spontaneously in 500-liter puncheons, 20 percent new. Bottled without filtration, it retains the kind of supple meatiness and savory fruit notes that can make chardonnay from Yarra compelling. Here, it’s the clean peach succulence without any sweetness, and the persistent apple-blossom fragrance, that set it apart, along with that meaty note that suggests decanting it for a veal chop
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Wine Spectator
Complex, starting with a core of crisp Meyer lemon and grapefruit zest flavors, and hitting its stride on the finish, where delicate details of lanolin, green tea and peppery white flowers emerge, lingering effortlessly on the weightless frame
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Blended from the winery's estate vineyards, the 2017 Chardonnay is a terrific reflection of the winemaking style here, showing positive hints of struck match, subtle toasted grain and butter notes, plus pear and melon aromas. It's medium-bodied and crisp, with a silky texture and expanding citrusy notes that take over on the long finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Companion
Australian Wine -
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Suckling
James
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Spectator
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Suckling
James
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Enthusiast
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Spectator
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Parker
Robert
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Enthusiast
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Spirits
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Wong
Wilfred
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Spirits
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Parker
Robert
When John Coltrane split with Miles Davis in the late 50s, he wasted little time releasing his visionary Giant Steps album. Winemaker (and equally successful brewmaster) Phil Sexton was inspired by the album and Coltrane's foresight. When Sexton sold his Devil's Lair vineyard in Margaret River to relocate and replant in the Yarra Valley, he named his wine in Coltrane's honor. Sexton chose Yarra Valley because of his admiration for the long aging and fine boned wines produced by the new generation of wine growers reestablishing this historic wine region. Giant Steps has forged a reputation for delivering some of Australia's most consistent, over-performing, varietal wines reflected by its ongoing, praise-worthy global acclaim including being a six-time Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year, 2013-2018. Giant Steps focuses primarily on the distinctive expression of single vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley. Grapes are drawn from estate and leased vineyards as well as fruit from long-term grower contracts, supported by strong relationships and meticulous supervision throughout the year
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.