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    REVIEWS + ACCOLADES

    98 Points

    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023
    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

    Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

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    $99.00
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      This is Giant Steps' debut release of Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay. A site regarded as one of the great Chardonnay vineyards of Australia, and until now no one had been brave enough to harness its potential. An Aussie Chardonnay that gives premium Burgundy a run for its money. As Halliday writer, Phillip Rich describes, "incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne." 

      The Bastard Hill produces concentrated and rocky wines of purity and focus. Its nose is pristine, with aromas of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray. The palate echos this, adding musk and flint characters. Incisive, then eased with a textural creaminess. Stellar. Be among the first to secure this ultra exclusive drop. We are lucky to have it, and with the way it's drinking... you will be too. 

      For winemaking, it starts completely handpicked and gently whole bunch pressed, juice transferred to barrel by gravity with no settling. Fermentation in 500L French puncheons, some of which went through malolactic fermentation (25%). Maturation for 9 months in used French oak – 25% 2nd use and 75% seasoned, Mercurey, Taransaud and Dargaud & Jaeglé.

      To provide a bit of context to the hype of Bastard Hill, we turn to Wine journalist, Campbell Mattinson for explanation, "the Bastard Hill vineyard, named for obvious reasons, has been left to sleep out there on its steep mountain slopes as the bastard child of the companies formerly known as Hardy’s. As a result this should-be-great vineyard has been left out there in the cold, hidden away, myth-like, talked about but not seen, and rarely tasted, like a giant, an unlikely giant, a sleeping one."

      This vineyard tells a story untapped protentional, sitting in the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley, planted in 1986, a vineyard too ahead of its time. Until now this nearly 40 years old vineyard had only shown glimpses of greatness, contributing to Eileen Hardy's chardonnay in the 90s and top Yarra Burn releases, only glimpses but more than enough to know the 'Bastard' would be worth the effort.

      From GM and Head Winemaker at Giant Steps, Melanie Chest, “We have intentionally delayed the release to give the wines the time they deserved to express the purity of the vintage,” Chester notes. “I am so happy we made that choice—the wines are singing as we head into their release in August. Thanks for your patience, as I know many of you look forward each year to the new bottles from your favourite vineyards. We are especially excited that this release features our first expressions from Bastard Hill and highlights the stunning 2023 vintage. We hope you love the wines are much as we do." 

      This is Giant Steps' debut release of Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay. A site regarded as one of the great Chardonnay vineyards of Australia, and until now no one had been brave enough to harness its potential. An Aussie Chardonnay that gives premium Burgundy a run for its money. As Halliday writer, Phillip Rich describes, "incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne." 

      The Bastard Hill produces concentrated and rocky wines of purity and focus. Its nose is pristine, with aromas of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray. The palate echos this, adding musk and flint characters. Incisive, then eased with a textural creaminess. Stellar. Be among the first to secure this ultra exclusive drop. We are lucky to have it, and with the way it's drinking... you will be too. 

      For winemaking, it starts completely handpicked and gently whole bunch pressed, juice transferred to barrel by gravity with no settling. Fermentation in 500L French puncheons, some of which went through malolactic fermentation (25%). Maturation for 9 months in used French oak – 25% 2nd use and 75% seasoned, Mercurey, Taransaud and Dargaud & Jaeglé.

      To provide a bit of context to the hype of Bastard Hill, we turn to Wine journalist, Campbell Mattinson for explanation, "the Bastard Hill vineyard, named for obvious reasons, has been left to sleep out there on its steep mountain slopes as the bastard child of the companies formerly known as Hardy’s. As a result this should-be-great vineyard has been left out there in the cold, hidden away, myth-like, talked about but not seen, and rarely tasted, like a giant, an unlikely giant, a sleeping one."

      This vineyard tells a story untapped protentional, sitting in the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley, planted in 1986, a vineyard too ahead of its time. Until now this nearly 40 years old vineyard had only shown glimpses of greatness, contributing to Eileen Hardy's chardonnay in the 90s and top Yarra Burn releases, only glimpses but more than enough to know the 'Bastard' would be worth the effort.

      From GM and Head Winemaker at Giant Steps, Melanie Chest, “We have intentionally delayed the release to give the wines the time they deserved to express the purity of the vintage,” Chester notes. “I am so happy we made that choice—the wines are singing as we head into their release in August. Thanks for your patience, as I know many of you look forward each year to the new bottles from your favourite vineyards. We are especially excited that this release features our first expressions from Bastard Hill and highlights the stunning 2023 vintage. We hope you love the wines are much as we do." 

      Maker

      Giant Steps

      Varietal

      Chardonnay

      Country

      Australia

      Region

      Yarra Valley

      Vintage

      2023

      ABV

      13%

      Bottle size

      750ml

      Trusted by the professionals

      Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

      Planted in 1987 in Gladysdale at 400m by the trailblazing Ray Guerin for Hardys and purchased by Giant Steps in 2022. This is its first wine from the vineyard. And what a wine it is! A brilliant and pure scented bouquet of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray and honeysuckle. There's a hint of fresh honeycomb, too. Incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne. That it will age gracefully is a given.

      — Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion, 98 Points.

      The other reason I’m excited about the addition of this vineyard to the Giant Steps range is that I tasted this chardonnay, blind, in a tasting earlier this year, and loved it. i.e. I love what this wine shows in the glass. All the Giant Steps single vineyard wines will be released on August 21. I’ll run through the remainder of them all prior to that date. I just wanted to jump on this Bastard Hill Chardonnay 2023. It’s intense, it’s bony, and it’s long. It’s very Upper Yarra. It showed a bit of cedarwood oak when I first opened it, as in a bit too much, but once it had been allowed to breathe it seemed precisely in balance. This wine tastes of grapefruit and chalk, lemon and pear, with musk and sea-spray characters driven within. It has genuine, penetrative momentum, tempered by a gentle, textural creaminess. Flint is not part of the Giant Steps style but there’s a smidgen of it here, just enough to complex. This chardonnay is nothing if not a wine for the cellar. It doesn’t want you to flirt with it; it wants you to invest.

      — Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 96 Points.

      Giant Steps

      Since 1997, Giant Steps has built a reputation based on expressive wines with purity and finesse out of Yarra Valley. These are wines that reflect individual vineyard sites, located across the Yarra Valley from Tarrawarra to Gladysdale. Giant Steps was founded by wine industry pioneer Phil Sexton, who journeyed from Margaret River to Yarra Valley looking for the ideal site to cultivate pure and finessed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

      Eventually, Phil found his hallowed ground near Gruyere in the Sexton vineyard, which he planted in 1997 on the steep slopes of the Warramate Ranges. The name comes from John Coltrane's album "Giant Steps", which felt like a fitting choice given the steep slopes of the vineyard and Phil's love of jazz. In 2003, Winemaker Steve Flamsteed came aboard, another muso, 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.

      Melanie Chester, became Head of Winemaking and Viticulture at Giant Steps in 2021, her long-held admiration for the winery comes with an intrinsic pressure to honour the expressions and diversity of its single sites. Mel, says she is "committed to ensuring that the quality will be the same if not better.” This means keeping the winemaking tight and transparent, so that diversity of site is what you taste. Giant Steps has been advancing Australia’s reputation for cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the past 20 years, the addition of Mel's craft and energy will ensure this legacy continues.

      The proof in the pudding. Giant Steps was awarded 2025 Halliday Winery of the Year and Pinot Noir of the Year. A huge achievement that's been years in the making. Of course Mel takes none of the credit (the best seldom do), instead she props up everyone involved until now, founder Phil Sexton, winemaker Steve Flamsteed, grower Lou Primavera and respected viticulturist Ray Guerin. 

      True, there's much to celebrate at Giant Steps, and it's impossible not to mention the new(-ish) Bastard Hill Vineyard release among them. Wine journalist, Campbell Mattinson paints a colourful gist of the site, "the Bastard Hill vineyard, named for obvious reasons, has been left to sleep out there on its steep mountain slopes as the bastard child of the companies formerly known as Hardy’s. As a result this should-be-great vineyard has been left out there in the cold, hidden away, myth-like, talked about but not seen, and rarely tasted, like a giant, an unlikely giant, a sleeping one." This vineyard of untapped protentional, is in the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley, planted in 1986, a vineyard too ahead of its time. Until now this nearly 40 years old vineyard had only shown glimpses of greatness, contributing to Eileen Hardy's chardonnay in the 90s and top Yarra Burn releases, only glimpses but more than enough to know the 'Bastard' would be worth the effort.

      Tasting notes

      NOSE
      Pure, Pink Grapefruit, Crushed Rock

      It showed a bit of cedarwood oak. Then a brilliant and pure scented bouquet of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray and honeysuckle.

      PALATE
      Nashi Pear, Creaminess, Sea Spray

      This wine has flavours of grapefruit, chalk, lemon and pear, with musk and sea-spray characters driven within.

      FINISH
      Lemon, Chalk, Flint

      It has genuine, penetrative momentum, tempered by a gentle, textural creaminess. Flint is not part of the Giant Steps style but there’s a smidgen of it here, just enough to complex.

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