The Yarra Valley has taken out the top prize at Australia’s premier Pinot Noir competition, the 2025 Pinot Noir Challenge, with Giant Steps’ 2024 Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir crowned the 2025 Trophy winner — the first time the region has claimed the honour, breaking Tasmania’s five-year winning streak.

The award was announced at a gala dinner held at Maison Batard on Tuesday 7 October 2025.

Led by renowned winemaker and Pinot Noir specialist Tom Carson, the judging panel assessed more than 300 entries from 17 regions across the country before awarding the prestigious trophy. Carson was joined by some of the best Pinot Noir minds in the country, Michael Downer, Ben Portet, Brendan Hawker, Chris Crawford, Pip Anderson and Imogen Dillon, with Associates Charlie Warne and Tillie Johnston.

“The 2024 Giant Steps Applejack Pinot Noir, a wine with a storied past, has added another prestigious award to its ever-bulging trophy cabinet,” Carson said. “The judges were captivated by this wine, exhibiting the very best of Pinot Noir in Australia: fragrant, detailed, poised, elegant, powerful, ethereal — the descriptors go on and on, just like the wine. Stunning.”

Chair of the Pinot Noir Challenge, Lindsay McCall, added:   “Tasmania has dominated for the past five years, so to see the Yarra Valley break through for its first win is a significant achievement. It underscores the strength of Australian Pinot Noir across multiple regions and the world-class calibre of wines we are producing.”

Read the full press release here.