Giant Steps Wombat Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022

Giant Steps Wombat Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022Product Information: Great bone structure! If you like the lighter more structural style of Yarra Valley pinot, then this is the one for you. Mesmerising redcurrants, early season raspberries, pomegranate, coriander seeds and tea rose scents. Energetic and silky on the palate, this is both finessed as it is structured. Finishes even and long with pliant, persistent tannins and juicy acidity. Drinkable now and clearly lots of potential. Wombat Creek

Product Information:

Great bone structure! If you like the lighter/more structural style of Yarra Valley pinot, then this is the one for you. Mesmerising redcurrants, early season raspberries, pomegranate, coriander seeds and tea rose scents. Energetic and silky on the palate, this is both finessed as it is structured. Finishes even and long with pliant, persistent tannins and juicy acidity. Drinkable now and clearly lots of potential.

Wombat Creek Vineyard is the highest altitude vineyard in the Yarra Valley, making it an ideal location for the production of extreme cool climate wines. The underlying red based volcanic soil and rock at Wombat Creek Vineyard tends to produce a distinctively soft yet long and firm palate that contrasts with the finer palates seen from the nearby Applejack Vineyard.

Maker:

Since 1997, Giant Steps has built a reputation based on expressive wines with purity and finesse out of Yarra Valley. The Giant Steps wines are a direct reflection of their individual vineyard sites, located across the Yarra Valley from Tarrawarra to Gladysdale. Founded by wine industry pioneer Phil Sexton, who journeyed from Margaret River to Yarra Valley to find the ideal site to cultivate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of purity and finesse. Phil found his holy grail near Gruyere in the Sexton vineyard, which he planted in 1997 on the steep slopes of the Warramate Ranges.

A big jazz fan, Phil named the winery after John Coltrane’s album and fitting metaphor “Giant Steps.” In 2003, Winemaker Steve Flamsteed came aboard, and the two set about producing a range of iconic Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that express a profound sense of place from six finite sites in Yarra Valley. By 2001 Winemaker, Melanie Chester, became Head of Winemaking and Viticulture at Giant Steps in 2021. Mel's long-held admiration for the winery comes with an intrinsic pressure to honour the expressions and diversity of its single sites. This means keeping the winemaking tight and transparent, so that diversity of site is what you taste.  

Vineyard:

Wombat Creek Vineyard is the highest altitude vineyard in the Yarra Valley (Gladysdale, at 400m asl), making it an ideal location for the production of extreme cool climate wines. The 16ha vineyard was originally planted north-east facing in 1988, with the intention of producing base wine for sparkling production but over the years has transitioned to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for table wine. The underlying ferrous (red) based volcanic soil and rock produce a distinctively soft yet long and firm palate, that contrasts with the finer palates seen from the nearby Applejack Vineyard (basalt based volcanic).

Nose - Early Season Raspberries, Pomegranate, Campari/Dried Herbs
This is pretty wild, pretty exotic, flowers and herbs flying.

Palate - Silky, Crunch Red Berries, Herb Savouriness
Cranberry, strawberry and red cherry with twig and herb notes.

Finish - Persistent Tannins, Juicy Acid, Fine Papery Tannin 
There's a trace of herbal bitterness on the finish which cleanses and adds kick. 

From the Wombat Creek vineyard, planted around 400m elevation in the early 1980s. All clone MV6; 100% whole berries, fermented in a 3t oak vat and matured in French barriques (20% new). Redcurrants, early season raspberries, pomegranate, coriander seeds and tea rose scents. Vibrant and silky in the mouth, this is both elegant and structured. Finishes even and long with pliant, persistent tannins and juicy acidity. - Philip Rich, Halliday Companion, 96 points.

Dry, grapey, and yet inherently savoury. This is pretty wild, pretty exotic, flowers and herbs flying. Cranberry, strawberry and red cherry with twig and herb notes. The finish here is so dry, with so much crunch and grip, that I’ve underlined the words ‘crackle and squeak’ in my notes. And yet – importantly – all this dryness is served with a juiciness running through it. If you like the lighter/more structural style of Yarra Valley pinot, then I’d reckon that you should be bullish on this. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 95 Points.

Medium-full red with a tint of purple and aromas of Campari/dried-herbs, red fruits of all sorts, the taste intense and measured with an abundance of fine, papery tannins leading to a clean dry finish. There's a trace of herbal bitterness on the finish which cleanses and adds kick. A very fine pinot that promises more for the future. - Huon Hooke, The Real Review, 95 Points.

The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Pinot Noir
Country - Australia
Region - Yarra Valley, Victoria
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%