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Red
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Estate
4,494 bottles
CT90.9 average score
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Red
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Premium
4,285 bottles
CT91.5 average score
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Red
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir The Crown Prince
1,925 bottles
CT90.3 average score
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Top Tasters
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1. MyCellar01
47 Tasting Notes
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2. CamWheeler
42 Tasting Notes
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3. chatters
27 Tasting Notes
Producer website
Bass Phillip Wines was established 1979 in the south-eastern corner of Australia, specialising in high quality pinot noir and chardonnay wines.
Named after George Bass and Arthur Phillip, great explorers of the region: ... as in Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne), Phillip Island, Bass Strait, the Bass River & the Bass Highway (close to Bass Phillip).
Organic practices since 1993 and biodynamic since 2002. The wine process at Bass Phillip is driven by a passion for quality experiences, and attention to detail in the growth and production of great wines.
Bass Phillip .. Australia's best Pinot Noirs
Recognised for more than fifteen years as Australia’s best, Bass Phillip pinot noirs have complex, length of flavour, delicacy with power, and cellaring potential for more than ten years. Made in a simple and traditional manner, with low-cropped vineyards, no irrigation and minimal intervention in the winery, the wines of Bass Phillip display flavours which are characteristic of the region and their individual vineyards.
Established in 1979 by Phillip Jones, the Bass Phillip Estate vineyard at Leongatha South became the first commercial vineyard in the region of South Gippsland, 150 km south-east of Melbourne. The region is famous for its fertility, moderately high rainfall, and high quality dairy farming.
Deep, mineral-rich soils and high humidity, plus cooler temperatures, are the important factors which deliver complex and intense flavour, firm natural acidity, and minerality in pinot noir and chardonnay wines. Ever since the first vintage of 1984, these qualities have been apparent.
Bass Phillip wines are distinctly different: nice to drink young, but improve well after several years in the cellar. The most recent vintages of Bass Phillip pinot noir are the best we have produced. We put this down to older vines, more experience in winemaking, and continued sustainable practices in both the vineyards and winery.
A comment by the winemaker:
“Wine Lovers Guide to Australia”, SBS Television:
“One of the most important features of pinot noir for me is texture, the mouth feel which is not just the grittiness of tannins, albeit they are very soft, but there’s a viscous chewiness about some great pinot noirs. Another great attribute of pinot noir is the length of flavour, which is not just the extended length as a result of fruit tannins or oak flavours.
There’s almost a hidden power about some pinots that’s often described as the peacock’s tail of flavour, an explosion of flavour in the back of your mouth which becomes more apparent in great pinot noirs when they have some age. Many of us have had those really exciting experiences at the dinner table with great old burgundies, and they’re memorable.”
Essence of Bass Phillip
Natural Viticulture & Winemaking
The real essence of Bass Phillip’s wine production is to allow the forces of nature to control the process. The South Gippsland region is very favourable for the growth of all plants: making this philosophy easy to implement. In the vineyard, the major objectives are:
>Reliance on natural rainfall.
>Encourage mineral uptake by the vine, by enhancing root zone activity with natural materials.
>Low cropping per vine: allowing best quality fruit.
>Careful canopy management: to encourage the best use of sunlight.
Irrigation, toxic/systemic fungicides, and nutrient additions are not used. In the winery, natural yeasts, minimal pumping and filtration, and minimal addition of ameliorants is practiced. We avoid the use of fining agents & acid additions. This is possible as a result of climatic factors, choice of harvest timing and balanced, natural vine growth.
South Gippsland Region
South Gippsland is well known for its dairy and beef produce, with annual rainfall approaching 1,000 millimetres per year, and with deep, silty loam soils. The region has never suffered drought. It consistently provides the soil-moisture and ambient humidity required for quality pinot noir wines. Despite being less than twenty kilometers from the sea, Bass Phillip is protected by hills to the north-east and north-west, which reduces the strong winds and produces a continental climatic effect. From daytime to night, temperature fluctuation in the region is wide, exceeding twenty degrees C in the summer months.
Soils are rich in minerals from their ancient volcanic origins. Roots are deep because of the free-draining structure of the soils with a low clay content.
The harvest period usually involves pleasant, consistent weather conditions, with considerable sunshine and fine, balmy days.
Natural and Scientific!
The founder of Bass Phillip, and current winemaker, began his career as a research engineer. The approach at Bass Phillip has therefore been to craft pinot noirs with a strongly analytical basis, using scientific measurements and principles to ensure high quality and long cellaring potential. Rigorous quality control in the last few years has given us wines with vibrant fruit and considerable delicacy.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion Wine Of The Year 2014: Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Wine of the Year 2014: Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
The first Bass Phillip pinot noir was made in 1984, but it was not until 1989 that Phillip Jones put in place a three-tiered structure with Reserve at the top, then Premium, and Estate as the basic release – one which most pinot noir makers in Australia would love to have as their top wine.
The three-tier structure was based on multiple small plot fermentation trials over the 1984 to 1989 vintages, and is thus terroir-based. But even here it s vintage dependent: since 1989, Reserve was not made in 1990, 1992, 2002, 2006 and 2011.
The soil is free-draining, deep and mineral rich, promoting vigorous growth, which gives rise to challenging management issues exacerbated by the ultra close spacing of 9000 vines per hectare (compared to the average of 2000 in Australia). The high rainfall and humidity (similar to Burgundy) increases fungal disease pressure during the peak of the growing season, alleviated by the usually sunny and balmy conditions of late summer and early autumn.
Thanks to inter-vine competition, a naturally balanced cropping level of 2.5–3.2 tonnes per hectare, or a third of a kilo of grapes per vine from a handful of small bunches. Management is biodynamic, an approach that demands ceaseless attention to detail, and vine-by-vine management with leaf and shoot thinning.
The pinot noirs are destemmed, open fermented, and hand plunged, with pumping kept to a bare minimum. The whole approach in the winery is non-interventionist; fining agents are never used, nor are acid or tannins added, and the fermentation temperatures are allowed to run their natural course. The oak is 100% new (only one or two barriques are required each year) and is lightly toasted, very tight grain Allier oak made by Francois Frere. Finally, the wines are not filtered.
They are, however, made to cellar well, with a minimum of six years (and up to20 years) in which to spread their wings – or, in Burgundian terms, their peacock’s tails. As at 2013 Phillip Jones says the ’85, ’88 and ’89 are currently magnificent.The unique quality of the Reserve wines is strictly a reflection of the minute piece of vineyard that they come from, and a strict regime of hygiene in the winery. Even in the blessed ’10 vintage only 50 dozen bottles were made (the maximum volume) from the single small plot; as little as 25 dozen are made in some years.
Bass Phillip Wines was established 1979 in the south-eastern corner of Australia, specialising in high quality pinot noir and chardonnay wines.
Named after George Bass and Arthur Phillip, great explorers of the region: ... as in Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne), Phillip Island, Bass Strait, the Bass River & the Bass Highway (close to Bass Phillip).
Organic practices since 1993 and biodynamic since 2002. The wine process at Bass Phillip is driven by a passion for quality experiences, and attention to detail in the growth and production of great wines.
Bass Phillip .. Australia's best Pinot Noirs
Recognised for more than fifteen years as Australia’s best, Bass Phillip pinot noirs have complex, length of flavour, delicacy with power, and cellaring potential for more than ten years. Made in a simple and traditional manner, with low-cropped vineyards, no irrigation and minimal intervention in the winery, the wines of Bass Phillip display flavours which are characteristic of the region and their individual vineyards.
Established in 1979 by Phillip Jones, the Bass Phillip Estate vineyard at Leongatha South became the first commercial vineyard in the region of South Gippsland, 150 km south-east of Melbourne. The region is famous for its fertility, moderately high rainfall, and high quality dairy farming.
Deep, mineral-rich soils and high humidity, plus cooler temperatures, are the important factors which deliver complex and intense flavour, firm natural acidity, and minerality in pinot noir and chardonnay wines. Ever since the first vintage of 1984, these qualities have been apparent.
Bass Phillip wines are distinctly different: nice to drink young, but improve well after several years in the cellar. The most recent vintages of Bass Phillip pinot noir are the best we have produced. We put this down to older vines, more experience in winemaking, and continued sustainable practices in both the vineyards and winery.
A comment by the winemaker:
“Wine Lovers Guide to Australia”, SBS Television:
“One of the most important features of pinot noir for me is texture, the mouth feel which is not just the grittiness of tannins, albeit they are very soft, but there’s a viscous chewiness about some great pinot noirs. Another great attribute of pinot noir is the length of flavour, which is not just the extended length as a result of fruit tannins or oak flavours.
There’s almost a hidden power about some pinots that’s often described as the peacock’s tail of flavour, an explosion of flavour in the back of your mouth which becomes more apparent in great pinot noirs when they have some age. Many of us have had those really exciting experiences at the dinner table with great old burgundies, and they’re memorable.”
Essence of Bass Phillip
Natural Viticulture & Winemaking
The real essence of Bass Phillip’s wine production is to allow the forces of nature to control the process. The South Gippsland region is very favourable for the growth of all plants: making this philosophy easy to implement. In the vineyard, the major objectives are:
>Reliance on natural rainfall.
>Encourage mineral uptake by the vine, by enhancing root zone activity with natural materials.
>Low cropping per vine: allowing best quality fruit.
>Careful canopy management: to encourage the best use of sunlight.
Irrigation, toxic/systemic fungicides, and nutrient additions are not used. In the winery, natural yeasts, minimal pumping and filtration, and minimal addition of ameliorants is practiced. We avoid the use of fining agents & acid additions. This is possible as a result of climatic factors, choice of harvest timing and balanced, natural vine growth.
South Gippsland Region
South Gippsland is well known for its dairy and beef produce, with annual rainfall approaching 1,000 millimetres per year, and with deep, silty loam soils. The region has never suffered drought. It consistently provides the soil-moisture and ambient humidity required for quality pinot noir wines. Despite being less than twenty kilometers from the sea, Bass Phillip is protected by hills to the north-east and north-west, which reduces the strong winds and produces a continental climatic effect. From daytime to night, temperature fluctuation in the region is wide, exceeding twenty degrees C in the summer months.
Soils are rich in minerals from their ancient volcanic origins. Roots are deep because of the free-draining structure of the soils with a low clay content.
The harvest period usually involves pleasant, consistent weather conditions, with considerable sunshine and fine, balmy days.
Natural and Scientific!
The founder of Bass Phillip, and current winemaker, began his career as a research engineer. The approach at Bass Phillip has therefore been to craft pinot noirs with a strongly analytical basis, using scientific measurements and principles to ensure high quality and long cellaring potential. Rigorous quality control in the last few years has given us wines with vibrant fruit and considerable delicacy.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion Wine Of The Year 2014: Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Wine of the Year 2014: Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
The first Bass Phillip pinot noir was made in 1984, but it was not until 1989 that Phillip Jones put in place a three-tiered structure with Reserve at the top, then Premium, and Estate as the basic release – one which most pinot noir makers in Australia would love to have as their top wine.
The three-tier structure was based on multiple small plot fermentation trials over the 1984 to 1989 vintages, and is thus terroir-based. But even here it s vintage dependent: since 1989, Reserve was not made in 1990, 1992, 2002, 2006 and 2011.
The soil is free-draining, deep and mineral rich, promoting vigorous growth, which gives rise to challenging management issues exacerbated by the ultra close spacing of 9000 vines per hectare (compared to the average of 2000 in Australia). The high rainfall and humidity (similar to Burgundy) increases fungal disease pressure during the peak of the growing season, alleviated by the usually sunny and balmy conditions of late summer and early autumn.
Thanks to inter-vine competition, a naturally balanced cropping level of 2.5–3.2 tonnes per hectare, or a third of a kilo of grapes per vine from a handful of small bunches. Management is biodynamic, an approach that demands ceaseless attention to detail, and vine-by-vine management with leaf and shoot thinning.
The pinot noirs are destemmed, open fermented, and hand plunged, with pumping kept to a bare minimum. The whole approach in the winery is non-interventionist; fining agents are never used, nor are acid or tannins added, and the fermentation temperatures are allowed to run their natural course. The oak is 100% new (only one or two barriques are required each year) and is lightly toasted, very tight grain Allier oak made by Francois Frere. Finally, the wines are not filtered.
They are, however, made to cellar well, with a minimum of six years (and up to20 years) in which to spread their wings – or, in Burgundian terms, their peacock’s tails. As at 2013 Phillip Jones says the ’85, ’88 and ’89 are currently magnificent.The unique quality of the Reserve wines is strictly a reflection of the minute piece of vineyard that they come from, and a strict regime of hygiene in the winery. Even in the blessed ’10 vintage only 50 dozen bottles were made (the maximum volume) from the single small plot; as little as 25 dozen are made in some years.
Edit producer information
Group wines by:
| wine type | Name, Type, Locale | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Rosé |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Réserve Rosé(View Label Image)Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Rosé |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Rosé(View Label Image)Rosé, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Chardonnay Estate(View Label Image)White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Chardonnay Estate Old Vines(View Label Image)White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Chardonnay MK2White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Chardonnay Old Cellar(View Label Image)White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Chardonnay Premium(View Label Image)White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| White |
Bass Phillip Gewürztraminer(View Label Image)White, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Gamay(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Nebbiolo(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir 'Since 1979'(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir 21(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir au Jardin Les Amis(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Belrose(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Bin 17K(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Blend 25(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Domain Phillip Jones Old Cellar(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Domaine Phillip Jones Classic(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Estate(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Estate Old Vines(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Iggy's ReserveRed, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Issan(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Old Cellar(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Premium(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Premium Cuvee Rare(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Reserve(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Reserve Cuvée Rare(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Rustic.(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir The Crown Prince(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |
|
| Red |
Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Village(View Label Image)Red, Australia, Victoria, Gippsland |