A combination of two of the greatest drinks to come out of the Yarra Valley—gin and pinot noir—is being released this month: Four Pillars Bloody Applejack Pinot Noir Gin 2025.
With its cool climate, the Yarra Valley is renowned for its Pinot Noir, and the team at Giant Steps have been producing some of the region’s best since 1997. It was named 2025 Halliday Winery of the Year and the 2024 Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir just took out the 2025 Pinot Noir Challenge.
The Applejack Vineyard, planted by the great Ray Guerin, has long been regarded as one of Australia’s finest and most-awarded single Pinot Noir vineyards and serendipitously, Four Pillars Head Distiller Sarah Prowse worked at Giant Steps before joining Four Pillars.
Prowse and Melanie Chester, Head Winemaker at Giant Steps, worked together to craft the fourth release in the Single Vineyard Gin series for Four Pillars.
Prowse said: “Giant Steps was a big part of my life, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the fruit that comes off the Applejack Vineyard. It’s east facing, so it’s slower ripening than the others sites creating more intense fruit with delicate tannins. I literally had to beg Melanie to sell us a small parcel of fruit!
“Luckily vintage started early thanks to a warm, dry spring and summer with bunches well formed, slightly smaller and tighter. Melanie and I worked closely picking out the best block as we soak the whole fruit which adds an amaro characteristic to the gin, balancing out the ripe red berry sweetness of the grapes.
“Its appearance is rich purple, with incredible depth. Its intensity of character is highlighted with notes of raspberry, blackberry, and hints of briar. The palate is succulent with grippy tannins from both ripe seeds and stems. These elements add to an overall beautifully balanced, almost amaro style pinot gin, that is both succulent and botanically bright.”
To make this year’s Bloody Applejack Pinot Noir Gin, Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin was aged in a 500-litre puncheon. When the fruit arrived from the vineyard, the distilling team soaked the whole-bunches, seeds, stems and all, in 60% ABV Rare Dry Gin gin for six weeks, all the while gently hand-plunging. The macerated liquid was then pressed off and put into stainless steel before bottling.
Four Pillars Single Vineyard Applejack Bloody Pinot Noir Gin 2025 will be available for $175 to the public from 27 November at www.fourpillarsgin.com and the Four Pillars Healesville Distillery Gin Shop, with early access at 10am on Wednesday 26 November for those on the Four Pillars email list.