Bastard Hill Vineyard: A new beginning with Giant Steps

There’s a new jewel in Giant Steps’ collection of celebrated vineyard sites. Bastard Hill has given the specialist Yarra Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producer special cause for celebration – especially due to its gifts from a superb 2023 vintage.

The famed Bastard Hill Vineyard sits in the steepest, remote upper reaches of the Yarra Valley in Victoria, Australia. It was purchased by Jackson Family Wines, owner of Giant Steps, in August 2022.

Now, the first wines from the site have been released – earlier than anticipated. Melanie Chester, head of winemaking and viticulture at Giant Steps since 2021, had not expected the neglected Bastard Hill site to immediately produce fruit of a standard befitting the winery’s esteemed range of single-vineyard wines.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Giant Steps 2023 wines

Grapes from the superb 2023 vintage changed her mind. A cold, wet spring followed by an even-tempered summer ensured a long growing period. This aided complex flavour development and ensured superb fruit quality at harvest.

‘It kept showing something fabulous in the barrel,’ she says. ‘Each time we looked at Bastard Hill fruit, it kept delivering more. We held these wines back for an extra three months – and that has produced fabulous results.’

Deciding to buy

It shows the Bastard Hill purchase to be a wise investment. ‘It was the right choice – and many have said only Giant Steps could get the best out of this historic site, because we have the resources but also the will to do it,’ says Chester.

‘It was called Bastard Hill because it’s such a difficult site to physically grapple with, but we know that the most difficult sites produce the most extraordinary wines,’ she adds.

When whispers circulated around the Yarra Valley during 2022 that Bastard Hill Vineyard would soon be put up for sale by Accolade Wines, people quickly alerted Chester to the news. At the time purchasing a new vineyard was not on her mind.

In only her second year at the helm of Giant Steps, she had revitalisation projects underway at five other vineyards providing fruit for the winery.

But she also knew the opportunity to procure such a famed site as Bastard Hill was too good to ignore. Especially after learning that two other potential purchasers had shown interest in the site.

Red soils, white wines

The 31 hectare Bastard Hill property has 13ha of vines, first planted in the 1980s by Australia’s leading cool-climate viticulturist, Ray Guerin. He also planted Giant Steps’ Applejack Vineyard in 1997.

Regarded as one of the great Chardonnay sites in Australia, Bastard Hill Vineyard was a source for the Eileen Hardy Chardonnay, produced by the Accolade brand, Hardy’s.

It produces fruit with an exciting concentration of flavours, without sacrificing strident natural acidity.

A key factor is a rare soil type at Bastard Hill – rich red basalt that points back to the region’s volcanic activity 500 million years ago. The chance to own a large vineyard on red basalt soil was alluring – even though Giant Steps already had access to fruit planted on red basalt soil from the Primavera Vineyard, owned by Lou Primavera.

Curiously this vineyard ripens later than other sites in the region and produces Pinot Noir of significantly different character.

Where the lyrebirds dwell

A visit to the remote Bastard Hill Vineyard underlines its unique characteristics. To reach it you drive along a winding dirt trail through dense temperate rainforest, teeming with towering eucalyptus trees and giant ferns.

Lyrebirds and kangaroos dart between thick scrub, before reaching an especially steep, vine-covered clearing that scales up from 300m to 400m above sea level.

With vines planted on gradients up to 32%, riding farm machinery here is fraught with danger. Such difficulty and high labour expenses saw previous owners Accolade lose interest in maintaining such a gnarly site to meet the highest standards.

It’s a significant financial undertaking for Giant Steps to embrace Bastard Hill. Not only for its undisclosed purchase price; but also for rejuvenation and improvements that require twice the staff and double the cost when compared to Giant Steps’ other Yarra Valley sites.

Work is in motion to improve the vineyard. That includes high fencing to keep wildlife out of the vineyard; improved cover crops to resolve soil erosion; and construction of a dam to ensure water security.

Chester, who is working closely with original vineyard manager Guerin, also aims to plant more Chardonnay vines on the steepest slopes that Accolade had earlier ripped up and left fallow.

Winemaking philosophy

This represents another exciting chapter in the Giant Steps story. The winery was established by Phil Sexton, who scoured the Yarra Valley for ideal sites to produce superior Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Sexton, who founded Devil’s Lair in Margaret River in 1981, planted his first vineyard in 1997 and released the first Giant Steps wine in 2001.

But the brand’s reputation soared after Steve Flamsteed joined as chief winemaker in 2003. Although he left in 2021, when Giant Steps was sold to Jackson Family Wines, Flamsteed remains a consultant to Chester.

She has embraced and enhanced his quest to produce single-vineyard wines that show qualities particular to each site, rather than have a dominant house winemaking style.

This is especially evident in Giants Steps’ range of four Chardonnay and five Pinot Noir single vineyard wines from the strong 2023 vintage.

‘We have the freedom to chase and celebrate the variables, says Chester. ‘It’s the significant points of difference that make this range of wines so important.’

With such a diverse suite of outstanding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir parcels – each from dramatically different sites on different soils, with a diverse mix of clones – Giant Steps has the components to make iconic blends. So will a super-cuvée arrive in the future, to demonstrate what the sum of these special parts can produce?

It’s a query that evokes a cheeky smile from Chester. ‘It’s certainly something we’re aware of. We know what we’re dealing with here – and it’s truly something special.’

Giant Steps: 2023 releases

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