Wine Review: Site over science in Giant Steps' 'terrific' Chardonnay

Giant Steps’ wines are consistently excellent and seem to just get better every time I get a look at them. These are wines of site over science.

The aim is simple: to gently guide the wine to bottle so the unique characters of the vineyard manifests in your glass. Giant Steps are about the nuance of place; that wonderful French concept of terroir.

The site in question is the Wombat Creek vineyard in Gladysdale, planted in 1988 in red, volcanic/ferrous soils at 420 metres, the highest in the Yarra Valley. Besides the site, the prevailing conditions over the growing season, and, at harvest, have a major impact on the finished wine. Last year, the Yarra Valley experienced a textbook cool-climate year, and this shows as great detail, clarity and sense of latent power and vitality are apparent.

The 2017 Wombat Creek Chardonnay is comfortable in its own skin; beautifully balanced with the purest of fruit, light undertones of oatmeal, spice and just a hint of flinty, struck-match complexity. Pitch-perfect tension between fruit and acidity and a lingering finish redolent with citrus, white peach, spice, grilled nuts and oatmeal. Terrific drinking.

GIANT STEPS 2017 Wombat Creek Vineyard Chardonnay

giantstepswine.com.au