Taittinger Brut Réserve Champagne NV FIFA World Cup 2026
Product Description:Celebratory elegance and classic Champagne craftsmanship define this special edition release from the historic house of Taittin...
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Product Description:Celebratory elegance and classic Champagne craftsmanship define this special edition release from the historic house of Taittin...
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Product Description:Precision, intensity and remarkable site expression define this benchmark Australian Chardonnay from one of the country's most ...
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Product Description:Metaxa Grande Fine Collector’s Edition is a luxurious Greek spirit that pays tribute to the culture, craftsmanship and artistic...
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98 Points
Applejack stands among the most vital Chardonnays in Yarra’s single-vineyard portfolio. Planted by Ray Guerin in 1997 on volcanic soils at Gladysdale, this east-facing site rests at 220–320 metres elevation. Soils of grey clay loam over basalt base, combined with cooler ripening and precise canopy management, yield a wine that’s both savoury and taut, yet intensely focused.
The 2024 vintage, made with 100% hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed fruit that is wild-fermented in 500 L French oak puncheons, spent up to nine months on lees. This approach allows every nuance of the site to shine—there’s energy and clarity, not weight, and a tension that marks vintage character over winemaking artifice.
Applejack Chardonnay is immediate in energy yet built for several years of tracking, rooted in mineral vibrancy rather than flesh. It reveals itself quietly at first, then steadily grows in presence—an insider’s Chardonnay with line, detail and the promise of deeper rewards to come.
Applejack stands among the most vital Chardonnays in Yarra’s single-vineyard portfolio. Planted by Ray Guerin in 1997 on volcanic soils at Gladysdale, this east-facing site rests at 220–320 metres elevation. Soils of grey clay loam over basalt base, combined with cooler ripening and precise canopy management, yield a wine that’s both savoury and taut, yet intensely focused.
The 2024 vintage, made with 100% hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed fruit that is wild-fermented in 500 L French oak puncheons, spent up to nine months on lees. This approach allows every nuance of the site to shine—there’s energy and clarity, not weight, and a tension that marks vintage character over winemaking artifice.
Applejack Chardonnay is immediate in energy yet built for several years of tracking, rooted in mineral vibrancy rather than flesh. It reveals itself quietly at first, then steadily grows in presence—an insider’s Chardonnay with line, detail and the promise of deeper rewards to come.
Light bright yellow in the glass with creamy pastry, spiced nectarine and lemon aromas and flavours, the palate intense and compact, tightly focused and long, with pencilly/cedary and lemon butter flavours of great energy and vitality, lingering long on the aftertaste. Refreshing acidity. Superb now, even better with a bit more age on it.
Applejack vineyard was planted at Gladysdale… bright green gold. A pure and gently reticent bouquet of stone fruits, lemon verbena and crushed rocks. The palate is tightly coiled, steely, saline and focused. A wine with excellent potential.
This is a ripping chardonnay. It has fruit power up its sleeve and in its wrist bands and everywhere else. And yet it’s tight. And stony. Shot with white peach… sweet cedar, brine and the wet leaves of a lemon tree. There’s some dare to the acidity but it brings flavour with it… an advanced level wine.
Founded in 1997 by Phil Sexton, Giant Steps was born from a desire to craft cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with clarity and site expression in the Yarra Valley. Sexton, already a pioneer in Margaret River, saw untapped potential in the steep slopes near Gruyere — now home to the iconic Sexton Vineyard. A jazz devotee, he named the winery after John Coltrane’s landmark album Giant Steps, a nod to the bold creative pursuit of something singular.
Over the decades, Giant Steps has drawn some of the most respected names in Australian wine. Steve Flamsteed joined as winemaker in 2003, cementing a house style focused on precision and transparency across six distinct vineyard sites. In 2021, Melanie Chester stepped in as Head of Winemaking and Viticulture, bringing a deep respect for the estate’s history and a commitment to pushing its potential even further.
Giant Steps is anchored in the belief that the vineyard should do the talking. Every wine is a study in terroir — shaped by altitude, aspect, and soil — and made with minimal intervention to protect that sense of place. The goal is to capture the nuances of each site, not impose a winemaking signature over them.
With a gravity-flow winery in Healesville and a focus on hand-farmed parcels, the team works vineyard-by-vineyard, vintage-by-vintage. From the volcanic loams of Applejack to the red ferrous soils of Bastard Hill, each bottle speaks of where it comes from. The result is a collection of single-vineyard wines that are distinctive, evolving, and unmistakably Yarra Valley.
Spiced nectarine, lemon rind, grilled nuts, and pencilly oak hints, carried by bright citrus energy
Intensity and compact precision with lemon butter and refreshing acidity, sustained by tight drive and an undercurrent of salinity
Lingering vitality, vivid and tensile—marked by cedar spice, creamy passage, and a saline, energised aftertaste