2025 Giant Steps Circle of Fifths Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

The fast-paced, early vintage of 2024 served as something of a dress rehearsal for the Yarra Valley in 2025—and the team at Giant Steps were ready.On the nose, the wine is initially restrained, almost bashful, but with a few confident swirls it reveals an intensity of fruit layered with seashell, powdered sandstone and lemon pith. The palate unfurls with white nectarine, yellow plum and starfruit, while pumice and sandy foreshore minerals ripple through, lending a distinctly maritime edge.There’s a striking precision here—lemon skin, citrus pulp and a white pineapple core held in a fine, tensile line. It speaks clearly of its own terra firma, remarkable considering the blend of site that it is and another compelling addition for Chardonnay devotees following Giant Steps. Serve with angel hair pasta and vongole for a pairing that mirrors its saline, coastal energy.

96 points Shanteh Wale for Wine Pilot, July 2026

A blend of equal portions of all the Giant Steps single-vineyard wines. With its aromas of white nectarine, lemon verbena, a little cashew and attractive marine scents, this is immediately appealing. On the palate it's concentrated with grapefruit pith and lemony acidity on the long finish. A class act to drink now and over the next four to six years. Drink to 2030.

96 points Special Value Philip Rich for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026 

This chardonnay is gold for Australia. I mean, you drink it and just want to go shouting on about how good chardonnay is and, in particular, Australian chardonnay. One sip and it’s Put Down Your Glasses time. Peach, pear, hay and cedar: it’s complex but it’s not complicated. Intensity is excellent, as is the length. Honeysuckle notes sidle in like careless whispers. It’s like drinking a bright day.

95 points Campbell Mattinson for The Wine Front, April 2026

The 2025 Circle of Fifths Chardonnay is saline and detailed, delicate and balanced. This is attractively layered with crushed cashews, green apples, pressed linen, crushed shells and other white delicate things. This is a lovely wine, one that comes warmly recommended. This blend comprises the single-vineyard sites Tarraford, Sexton, Applejack and Primavera. While it tastes like none of them, it has elements of all. Drink to 2036.

94 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, June 2026

Pale straw, the nose shows grilled nuts, confit lemon and struck match with floral and tea-like notes threading through the layers. The palate is chalky, tensile and long with citrus oil, lemon zest and a saline mineral finish.

Bright, expressive and rewarding from the moment it's opened, and very much citrus led in its character on release. With this in mind, pair with simple but high quality seafood rather than meats while still young.

More about this wine

Giant Steps was named after John Coltrane's groundbreaking jazz album, and the Circle of Fifths continues that thread. The name taken from the music theory tool that helps musicians understand how scales and chords relate to build harmony.

Winemaker Melanie Chester has led direction since 2021 and was central to envisioning a new wine offer that sits between the Giant Steps single vineyard wines and its regional Yarra Valley blends.  The Circle of Fifths Chardonnay is blended in equal proportions from all five of Giant Steps' estate vineyards — Tarraford, Sexton, Primavera, Applejack and Bastard Hill. In Chester's own words: the single vineyards are the pure tones, while this is the chord.

2025 was a shorter than average season, but trouble free with good vine health and overall excellent quality of fruit. Hand-picked, and sorted already in the vineyard, then chilled overnight at the winery. Whole bunch pressed and wild fermented on full solids in predominantly seasoned French oak puncheons. Small portion allow malolactic before the wines were lightly sulphured and matured on full lees in a reductive environment without stirring. Blended and bottled in December.