Winemaking

Winemaking without compromise perhaps best sums up the winemaking ethos of Giant Steps. The Sextons have no hesitation in defining their aims; to produce single vineyard wines that have personality reflective of their unique site; wines of structure, finesse, character and age worthiness. Below are the Sextons' summaries of the Giant Steps winemaking philosophies and techniques as applied to the individual varieties.

Pinot Noir

Hand picked, sorted and crushed to small open squares where the must is cold soaked and then hand plunged through fermentation. After extended maceration they press to barrel and from there, gravity rack and settle prior to bottling 12 months later.

Minimal handling, no pumps, sulfur or filtration are the guiding principles. Bottled with a screw cap. Medium aging potential. Cool, dry ripening seasons help to produce elegant fruit with good acid and pH balance.

Giant Steps Pinot Noir characteristics

Nose - floral, cherries, earthy spice, sap, preserved plums and berries. Palate - medium weight, very textural with blackberry, strawberry, char and cedar. Firm, balanced and layered over a scaffold of dusty "top of the mouth" tannin.

Chardonnay

Hand picked, sorted and whole bunch pressed with minimal sulfur. Barrel fermented and aged on lees with minimal handling, gravity racking and a gentle filtration prior to bottling 12 months later.

Minimal malolactic fermentation. Bottled with a screw cap. Very good aging potential. Cool, dry ripening seasons allows the Sextons to draw out the palate whilst tightening up the finish.

Giant Steps Chardonnay characteristics

Nose - characteristically complex nectarine, white peach and citrus with underlying secondary cashew and grain meal. Palate - firm, yet creamy textural wine overlain with minerally lemon zest and nectarine.

Merlot

Hand picked just as the first winter chills lay over the Valley. Fruit is sorted and crushed to small open squares where it is cold soaked before hand plunging through fermentation. After an extended maceration, the wine is pressed and racked to barrels where it is aged for 12 months prior to bottling. Bottled with a traditional cork closure.

Cool, dry ripening seasons enables the Sextons to "draw out" the ripening of this sometimes-difficult grape. Extended, yet controlled ripening, encourages development of the more sensual characters of the variety as opposed to the bigger, drier styles from warmer climates. Good aging potential.

Giant Steps Merlot characteristics

Nose - Liquorice, blackcurrant, very floral with overlying violets. Palate - Savory, spicy dry leaf, twigs and cedar layered with chocolate, Satsuma plums and Christmas cake. Finishes long, firm, dusty and finely structured.

Harry's Monster (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot)

A blend that is only released when vintage conditions permit - that is, when these late ripening varieties have attained sufficient fruit intensity and structure to achieve the stated aim of the winery - to produce a restrained wine with power yet finesse.

Warmer seasons assist the ripening of the marginal (for the Yarra) Cabernet varieties. In these years, the late ripeners (Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc and Petit Verdot) move nicely through herbaceous to the more succulent and rich phase. Bottled with a traditional cork closure. Needs time. Lay this down. Excellent aging potential.

Harry's Monster characteristics

Nose - cassis, cherry chocolate liqueur, blackcurrants, vanilla, flowers and crushed ants. Palate - tight blackcurrant, cedar, sap, cloves, mixed spice and vanilla all layered vertically through the rungs of a tight, fine grained ladder of tannin.

Viticulture

The 75 acre Giant Steps vineyard is on the north face of the Warramate Ranges in the central Yarra Valley, an hour east of Melbourne. Established across a series of ridges rising from the 300 to 1000 foot level, the vineyard is planted to rocky/gravelly clays and faces predominantly northwards.

The Yarra's mild summers enhance slow, even ripening. This translates into sugar that stays in balance with acid, flavor in balance with structure. Brutal winters ensure full dormancy and vine replenishment for the next growing season.

Here, vine vigor and yield management are critical. While the site is partly self-managing, the Sextons have intervened by grafting all varieties and clones to the devigorating and authortarian rootstock 10-14. Yield and vigor are further disciplined by close planting to encourage root zone overlaps. Trellising is high and shoots are vertically positioned undergoing 4 lifts per season to enhance ventilation and sunlight capture.

All work is by hand.

After many years in the wine and brewing industries, Phil chose the Giant Steps site to explore clonal and site specific differences between a range of varieties.

Pinot Noir

In warm years, cool sites prevail. In cool years, it's the opposite. But it is the cooler parts of the Valley they believe to be Pinot country. And it is on the lower, cooler slopes that they have planted 7 clones of this most belligerent yet seductive grape. Sourced from Burgundy, New Zealand and Australia, the clones provide a rich tapestry of material to build our final wine.

Chardonnay

The crisp, cool conditions and flinty, almost mean soils of the Valley slopes produce fruit in the nectarine, citrus, melon and white peach range, as opposed to the richer, more tropical honeyed styles that are more the norm in Australia. The result is a wine of structure and finesse. 7 clones of Chardonnay were sourced from California, Burgundy and Australia and planted on the coolest, lowest slopes of the vineyard.

Merlot

Phil Sexton suggests that Merlot has a difficult reputation in Australia due to its potential to over crop and express great vigor, although he also believes this variety can transcend the usual.

He suspects it has lots to do with conditions; site, climate, soil and practice. So it is to the Yarra that he believe this most majestic variety is suited. Much cooler than has been the Australian trend - leaner, meaner and controlled. Their Merlot is a single clone grafted to rootstock. Planted to lean steeply sloping country, they believe that the extended, slow and cool ripening season of the southern Yarra Valley well suits this variety.

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Sextons came to the Valley to explore this style. They are surrounded by vineyards who have worked wonders with the variety. With confidence and focus they've planted 3 clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, grafted to rootstock, in several sheltered pockets on the highest north facing slopes. Here the aspect is extreme. The vines receive more than their share of incidental sunlight as well as reflected light from the flinty white rocks that cover the ground and our lake, well below. Most of the year they cannot even drive a tractor up…it is all on foot.