TN: 2018 Giant Steps Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

WINE TALK
1

Thanks to Jan Janas for the tip!

This might hold the QPR crown for the year thus far; luscious and surprisingly perfumed, the fruit quality is an inviting dense raspberry and black cherry. Well-balanced with energizing acidity and silky tannin, it’s the savoury elements that are the most compelling; a really nice loamy quality, orange peel, rose petal, a kiss of smoky oak and a finish of white pepper.

For $22 USD, this is an absolutely screaming deal that is drinking beautifully now.

2

Thanks for the note! I bought a couple of bottles of this and the '18 chard recently on someone’s recommendation and am now even more excited to try.

3

The QPR winner of the year, and you gave it 89 points (on CellarTracker)? You must be a pretty tough grader. neener

4

I’m glad you liked it, Sean! I couldn’t have described the wine better myself. When I visited them we tasted through two flights of their single vineyards, with the estate wine at end for comparison sake. I had to scratch my head as to why this was $30 instead of $60 - not always are single-site wines better. This is a co-ferment of four of their single vineyard Pinot Noirs, with a majority of Sexton, their best and most savoury.

Shh, don’t out him like that, he can write positively about New World wines but not actually score them well, or he’ll lose all cred in the Burgundy cults. :wink:

5

Let us know how you like them. The 2019s are equally as good if not better, especially the Chardonnay.

6

I’m a tough nut to crack, AND I subscribe to the pre-Suckling school of scoring.

In all seriousness, I think ~85-86 is a really solid score for a wine and anything more than that is something I find really pleasing. An 89 that costs ~$20-25 is worth a lot in my books (I think my highest score on CT is 93, FWIW!)

7

There’s a figure of speech in Italian, “avere le maniche corte,” which roughly translates to “having short sleeves” and means being a tough grader. You often hear high-school student’s yelling “ma che maniche corte!” (“what short sleeves!”) after receiving their graded exams. Now I can’t stop picturing Sean rolling up his sleeves every time he’s about to score a wine [wink.gif]

8

I like to see this. Too many people rate every wine they try between 89-100 points.