2024 Giant Steps Yarra Valley Chardonnay

The Yarra Valley Chardonnay is always a killer introduction to the Giant Steps range - and the 2024 vintage is bang on form.

The fruit is drawn from across five of Giant Steps’ key sites - Sexton, Gruyere Farm, Tarraford, Applejack, and Wombat Creek - giving a complete picture of the region in one glass. A classic season brought excellent flavour ripeness and natural acidity, and winemaker Mel Chester has nailed the brief again: purity, precision, and a heap of charm.

Whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented and raised in mostly old French oak, this is a wine driven by citrus and white stone fruit, but it’s the tension and mineral drive that leave a mark. A touch of malo and lees work gives it just the right amount of flesh without dulling the zip.

In short, it’s sleek, textural, and incredibly polished. Whether you’re restocking your fridge or dipping your toe into Yarra Chardonnay for the first time, this is a no-brainer. One of the best-value cool-climate Chardonnays in the country, year in, year out.

95 points
"Smells fleshy with aromas of stone fruits, together with a little pink grapefruit and light citrus notes. It's both approachable and gentle, even as a young wine, but the balance for drinking now or cellaring in the short to medium term is absolutely spot on."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)