The Applejack Vineyard was planted in 1997 in the chilly Upper Yarra village of Gladysdale, where the growing season is cool and long.

Chardonnay is only a small portion of the vineyard with the rest being Pinot Noir, so usually there is only about six barrels of the stuff made, but despite its rarity, this Chardonnay bottling has its fans - mainly those looking for a more lithe style of wine that the Yarra is particularly good at.

For those who like minerality, flint and wet stone characters this is for you. The fruit sits around the lemon curd spectrum.

There is a touch of oak but it is not the dominant character here. For those more technically minded, it was whole bunch pressed and fermented in 500L French oak, before living in 12% new oak for nine months.

While Giant Steps has been around for a long time, the last few releases of the single vineyards have really turned a corner and become something special.