2025 Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley

From the Applejack vineyard, planted on grey clay soils at 300m in Gladysdale in '97 by Ray Guerin. 35% whole bunches. A deep, bright plummy red. The perfume when you put your nose in the glass is off the chain! Aromas of wild strawberry, black raspberry, peony, bergamot and Chinese five-spice. Multi-faceted and layered on the medium-bodied palate, with the tannins perfectly interwoven with the fruit. It's incredibly long and will reward cellaring over the next decade or more. Not sure I've tasted a better Applejack Pinot, which is saying something.

98+ points Special Value Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

Applejack has become one of the defining vineyards in the Giant Steps collection, perched high in the Upper Yarra near Gladysdale where cooler temperatures and a long growing season suit Pinot Noir beautifully. Under winemaker Melanie Chester, the single vineyard wines have become some of the most keenly followed releases in Australian Pinot. And there is a particularly compelling reason to pay attention to the 2025: Philip Rich believes it may be the best Applejack Pinot Noir yet.

Applejack sits around 300 metres above sea level, with grey clay loam over volcanic soils and a cool, exposed position that allows Pinot to ripen slowly. The vineyard typically produces a wonderfully fragrant, finely structured expression, and 2025 seems to have turned the dial up without losing that delicacy. There is concentration here, but it is the perfume, freshness and beautifully controlled tannin that make the wine so convincing.

Bright ruby with a translucent crimson edge, the bouquet spills out with wild raspberry, Morello cherry and cranberry, followed by violet, blood orange and fragrant mountain herbs. Beneath the fruit sit pink peppercorn, black tea, clove and a faint woodland earthiness. The palate is silky and energetic, with succulent red cherry and raspberry framed by very fine tannins. Orange peel and savoury spice appear through the middle, finishing long and fragrant with red fruit, tea leaf and a subtle earthy note.

Try it with Cantonese roast duck, tuna tataki with sesame and ponzu, chicken yakitori, pork and shiitake dumplings or miso glazed eggplant. Our pick is the roast duck. Crisp skin, sweet meat and five spice with Applejack's perfumed red fruit and fine tannins is the sort of combination that makes opening a second bottle seem entirely reasonable.

Cellaring: Drink from 2027 to 2040.