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Yangarra Estate and Giant Steps take top prizes at Halliday Awards

Wines from Yangarra Estate and Giant Steps, both part of the Jackson Family Wines Portfolio, received top honours at the annual awards of leading Australian wine writer and critic James Halliday.

Fraser and Lane.

At the recent Halliday Wine Companion Awards, Yangarra Old Vine Grenache 2021 was announced as Wine of the Year, and the Giant Steps Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 received the accolade of Best Pinot Noir.

Yangarra Estate, in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, joined the Jackson Family Wines portfolio in 2001. In 2020 it received the Wine of the Year award from Halliday for its Yangarra High Sands Grenache 2016, and winemaker Peter Fraser received Winemaker of the Year in 2016.

Reflecting on this latest achievement, Fraser said: “We are so very fortunate to work with such a special site that makes a distinctive expression of Grenache. Vineyard Manager Michael Lane and I have worked with this special block for 25 years and our winemaking team’s incredible attention to detail guides this wine to its truest expression. We are thankful to the Jackson family’s unwavering and uncompromising vision for the highest of quality, as well as the passion and dedication of everyone on the broader Yangarra team.”

Giant Steps, in Yarra Valley, became part of Jackson Family Wines in 2020.

Melanie Chester, head of winemaking and viticulture at Giant Steps, said of the award it won for its Pinot Noir: “We are extremely proud to receive this recognition, which solidifies the Applejack Vineyard as one of the great Pinot Noir sites in Australia. We are grateful to the Guerin family, who had the vision to plant such a special place in the upper Yarra Valley. Our wines are the result of a huge amount of work from a lot of people, especially our viticulture and winemaking teams, whose dedication to these sites in their farming and winemaking make the quality of these wines possible.”

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