The Yarra Valley is on the cusp, or possibly over it, of defining a regional style. Cool, high toned citrus and orchard fruits, coupled with sinewed flesh, linear shape, a boney structure and high, piquant acidity. Of course, there are variations on the theme, but I do think the Yarra Valley does this very well and it’s a uniquely Australian take on the variety. And above all in wine, uniqueness is highly prized.

To carry this theme further, due to a slew of hot and dry vintages, there is a stampede to cooler elevated sites, the banking of sites to best fit this regional profile. At either extremes of style, there are big worked numbers and sour, anorexic bottles. And then there’s Giant Steps.

 

Region defining

I cannot think of another Yarra Valley producer who best defines the region, and does so from a multitude of vineyards. The vineyards themselves are vinified in much the same way, enabling the taster to taste the differences. In the case of Giant Steps, the producer’s DNA is evident through all the single vineyard and estate Chardonnays, and so is the DNA of the region. This is profoundly important, for as wine lovers we need to be able to identify method and styles that we are drawn to.

 

2019 vintage

To one degree or another, 2019 was an excellent vintage. Winter rains and a long, hot dry summer gave the best wines great concentration, intensity, structure, high natural acidities, ripe phenolics and bright fruit flavours. You can’t judge a vintage from one bottle, but the 2019 Wombat Creek Chardonnay has surely taken the very best of what this vintage had to offer and amplified every aspect. The dial turned twisted to red.

The aromatics are almost shocking in their brevity, complexity and attack. White and yellow peach, flint, quince, lime marmalade, butter, jasmine, nougat, grilled nuts and beeswax. It’s chardonnay alright, but the clarity of flavours is incredible and I love how it’s the fruit that figures and all the other flavours are perfectly interwoven notes of depth and complexity. Fruit first, everything else, a titillating bonus.

 

Site and sound

Wombat Creek sits at 400 metres above sea level, and faces directly south. Volcanic soils and rock ensure good fertility, water holding capacity during dry periods, and excellent drainage. Cool sites in the Yarra can often yield skeletal, sour wines, but not the Wombat Creek vineyard which produces such a complete, proportioned, powerful and balanced Chardonnay. Picked ripe, the phenolics can be deftly absorbed, adding a chewiness and textural complexity, that I have not found in other Australian wine regions.

The intimate understanding of this vineyard by Giant Steps is evident in their winemaking. Indigenous fermentation, oak, 20% new tight grained 500L French puncheons, battonage for the first month, topped up and aged for 8 months. So, no malolactic fermentation, oak is deft, battonage is kept to a minimum, but nonetheless deployed. An 8 months maturation is short, no doubt to maintain freshness, but more importantly to ensure the vividness of fruit and the sprinkling of flavour and texture is exactly that, a sprinkling.

 

Winemaking masterpiece

Once I would have said that this is a winemaker’s hedge. Having it both ways, but not having the guts to go down one path of style or another. Now I believe that the 2019 is in fact a masterpiece of winemaking due to experience and the prevailing  understanding of region and site. The palate, like the aromatics, is a forceful, full frontal assault of fruit, with thrusting pincers of texture and mouthwatering acidity. Fleshy and firm, with lime zest, sweetened condensed milk, tangerine, mandarin, yellow peach, pine nut and apricot. Bright with textural chew and relentlessly driving length. Acacia honey, orange zest and ginger fleck the finish. Layered and remarkably complex, there are many, many years left yet. So tightly coiled, I think at least another 20 years and more. Incredible value and immensely satisfying.

 

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