Innocent Bystander

Contact:
Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps Winery
336 Maroondah Hwy
Healesville VIC 3777
Tel: (03) 5962 6111

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One winery with two very distinct wines.

Giant Steps focuses exclusively on the distinctive expression of single vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley. These are produced fastidiously in the vineyard and vinified with minimal intervention so that each wine is a faithful expression of site, vintage and culture.

Innocent Bystander allows the winemaking team to go that bit further and sources fruit from many great vineyards within the Yarra Valley and beyond. These are approachable wines that deliver abundant fruit flavours.

Established in 2004 by Phil Sexton, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander is an independent winery built around gravity flow principles and designed for small-batch winemaking.

It’s also where the team live their gastronomic philosophy: great wine needs great food.  They have their own bistro with wood-fired pizza, artisan bakery, cheese room and provedore.  Innocent Bystander also roast their own coffee beans, have a range of excellent beers and a guest wine list comprising of other producers they admire from the Yarra Valley and abroad.  Tastings are available everyday between 10am and 6pm, with winery tours daily at 11am and 3pm, where one can experience all the sights and excitement of their gravity flow system, fermenting tanks and barrel hall. One can try wines in one's own natural environment at their Cellar Door.  Two labels with distinct, charismatic personalities.

Giant Steps is named after John Coltrane’s first solo album and the Sexton’s giant step from Margaret River (Devil’s Lair) to the Yarra Valley. These wines focus exclusively on the distinctive expression of single vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley. Production of the Giant Steps wines is very limited with some vineyards producing as little as 200 cases each vintage – some wines are not produced each year if vintage conditions do not allow. These wines are often hard to find in retail outlets as they are mainly sold through our own cellar door and through selected restaurants.

The focus of Innocent Bystander is to produce quality, flavour-driven wines from carefully selected vineyards in the Yarra Valley and beyond. Over time Steve Flamsteed and his team have increased the level of complexity and texture in the Innocent Bystander wines with greater use of wild fermentations and restrained oak handling.