2022 Giant Steps Sexton Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley

Made from a 50/50% blend of Gingin and Bernard (or Dijon, as it's often referred to) clones planted on north-facing soil in Gruyere. Whole bunches pressed to French puncheons, 20% new oak. A bright green gold. The most immediate of the four single-vineyard chardonnays from Giant Steps in 2022. Perfectly ripened white peach and apricot aromas with scents of German spiced biscuits and a little flint. Textured with good intensity, this silky wine flows effortlessly across the palate.

96 points Philip Rich for Halliday Wine Companion June 2023

Aromas of clove, bing cherries, lilac and mulch. A darker composition. A carnal whiff of autumnal leaves and Lapsang souchong. Detailed tannins compress a mid-weighted palate of impressive density and freshness. This will unravel nicely across the mid-term, based on poise and succulent length. A reductive clench at the finish confers further tension. Drinkable now, but best from 2024.

95 points James Suckling

Giant Steps has become one of the Yarra Valley’s benchmark producers, with its single-vineyard wines exploring the striking differences between the valley’s sites. Sexton Vineyard sits high on the steep slopes of the Warramate Ranges near Gruyere, where exposed hillsides, cool conditions and thin, rocky soils produce Pinot with fragrance, structure and a distinctly savoury edge. Under winemaker Melanie Chester, Giant Steps continues to push these vineyard personalities firmly to the front.

The 2022 season was cool and long, ideal for building flavour slowly while retaining freshness and perfume. Sexton’s elevated position and rocky clay-loam soils naturally give the wine more backbone than some of the Yarra’s softer sites, with thoughtful whole-bunch use and restrained oak adding spice and shape rather than sweetness.

Bright ruby with a translucent garnet edge, the nose opens with Morello cherry, wild raspberry and cranberry before violet, blood orange and dried thyme appear. With air come black tea, forest floor, clove and a little stemmy spice. The palate is taut and energetic, with crunchy red fruit framed by fine, savoury tannins. Cherry skin, orange peel and herbs gather through the middle before a long finish of spice, tea leaf and cool earth.

This wants roast duck with cherries, grilled quail with lentils, pork tenderloin with mustard and mushrooms, crispy-skinned salmon or a wild mushroom and Gruyère tart. Our pick is the quail, smoky skin, sweet little birds and earthy lentils against Sexton’s cherry and savoury spice is a rather fine Saturday lunch proposition.

Cellaring: Drink now to 2036.