Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Chardonnay 2025

Vintage Notes:
The 2025 season kicked off with a generous, wet winter that filled the soil profile with moisture. From there, spring arrived warm and dry. Shoots pushed early; we had fantastic spring conditions during flowering and fruit set. The dry season pushed growth and ripening along even though temperatures weren’t hot, in fact barely warmer than average, a pleasant surprise for the dryness of the season. Harvest came earlier than usual and moved quickly, a compressed vintage that asked a great deal of the team and rewarded the effort with fruit of exceptional quality, concentration and weight.

Vineyard Notes:
Location: Gladysdale Planted: 1997 Elevation: 220-320 metres Soil type: Grey clay loam over black (basalt) volcanic base Aspect: East facing slopes Size: 12.5 hectares Applejack Vineyard is a special site, set on a dramatic, closely planted slope in the Upper Yarra Valley. Planted by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin in 1997, its higher altitude creates a cooler, longer growing season, and it is often picked later than our lower-altitude vineyards. While Applejack is predominantly planted to Pinot Noir, it includes a small 1.8-hectare parcel of Chardonnay, often yielding just six barrels from the site. Applejack Chardonnay is defined by purity and precision, with lemon curd, wet rock and mineral-focused characters. The wines are fine-boned and ceramic-like in structure, with clarity, tension and quiet intensity.

Winemaking:
100% handpicked and whole bunch pressed. The juice was then transferred directly to barrel by gravity with no settling, taking full lees. Wild fermented in 500L French oak puncheons. No bâtonnage. No malolactic fermentation. Maturation for 9 months in French oak 12% New, 88% seasoned, Mercurey, Taransaud, Dargaud & Jaeglé.

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