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Circle of Fifths is a brand new range from the 2025 Halliday Winery of the Year

By Anna Webster

2 days ago

The inaugural release of Giant Steps' Circle of Fifths range includes the 2024 Pinot Noir and 2024 Chardonnay. Both wines will be on sale from June 18 with an RRP of $62 per bottle.

Giant Steps’ reputation has been built on the single-vineyard wines – particularly pinot noir and chardonnay – it makes from its five unique sites in the Yarra Valley

But on June 18, the winery will release a brand-new range called Circle of Fifths, comprising a pinot noir and a chardonnay made with fruit from all five vineyards. 

The Giant Steps team show off the new Circle of Fifths rangeThe new range consists of two wines: a pinot noir and a chardonnay, both from the 2024 vintage.

Each vineyard, from Applejack to Sexton, Primavera to Tarraford, and the relatively recently acquired (and aptly named) Bastard Hill, “has its own voice, its own tone,” says general manager and head winemaker Mel Chester. “We are bringing those voices together to create a unique blend through the lens of our special sites.”

The new range sits between the single-vineyard range and the Yarra Valley range in the Giant Steps hierarchy. But, although the wines in the latter are also multi-vineyard blends, they include grower fruit and are generally juicy, approachable and, in Mel’s words, designed to be “slurped back over the summer following vintage”. Circle of Fifths is much more complex.

“They're serious wines," Mel reiterates. "It’s the quality our single sites are known for, coming together.

“If you relate it to Burgundy, Fifths is the equivalent of a good village blend made by the producers who own the great cru sites," she adds. "It’s like buying de Vogüé villages, which is declassified Musigny but at way less of the price.”

The Giant Steps team show off the new Circle of Fifths rangeSenior winemaker Mike Latham and head winemaker Mel Chester.

And the name? Just as Giant Steps is a reference to John Coltrane’s influential 1960 jazz album, circle of fifths is a music theory that shows the relationship between different keys and harmonies.

“Musically, the circle of fifths works in a chain to form a chord, using rules to build sounds and form a chorus,” says senior winemaker Mike Latham, “just like we’ve brought our vineyard sites together to create a perfect harmony.”

Both the 2024 Circle of Fifths Chardonnay and the 2024 Circle of Fifths Pinot Noir will be available from June 18, each with an RRP of $62. 

See how Halliday taster Philip Rich scored them below.

Giant Steps 2024 Circle of Fifths Chardonnay
An exciting new addition to the Giant Steps range, this new blend of all the single-vineyard wines is an absolute cracker and sits very comfortably in the range, both qualitatively and price-wise. Aromas of gently grilled nuts, confit lemon and a touch of struck match can all be found on the bouquet, while the palate is chalky, tensile and long. By the time this is released in June it should be singing. – Philip Rich, 96 points.

Giant Steps 2024 Circle of Fifths Pinot Noir 
Along with the chardonnay, this is an exciting new addition to the Giant Steps range. A blend of all the single-vineyard wines and mainly from the vineyards in the Upper Yarra. 40% whole bunches. Gently brooding with aromas of wild black cherries and raspberries along with some whole-bunch–derived fennel seed spice and a touch of violets. Concentrated, with far more stuffing that the Yarra Pinot. Ripe, suave tannins ensure this will be worth cellaring for at least five to eight years. – Philip Rich, 96 points.

 


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