Phillip Jones founded Bass Phillip in South Gippsland in 1979, inspired by the wines of Henri Jayer. He spent four decades making some of Australia's most Burgundian pinot noir and chardonnay on a northeast-facing block of volcanic soil at Leongatha. In 2020, he sold to Jean-Marie Fourrier of Domaine Fourrier in Gevrey-Chambertin, who trained under Jayer himself and worked his legendary 1988 harvest.
The Estate Pinot Noir draws from the original 1979 Leongatha vineyard: a northeast-facing, 4-hectare block planted at 8,500 vines per hectare. The MV6 clone, brought to Australia in 1832 by explorer James Busby, produces small, intensely flavored berries. After being fermented using indigenous yeasts, it’s gravity-racked into 60% new and 40% old French Allier oak for 15 to 18 months, ultimately being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2019 is Phillip Jones's last vintage at the helm. Notes of fresh cranberry, wild strawberry, and damask rose petal on the nose, with smoked venison and forest floor lingering beneath. Fine-grained tannins and a sunshine beam of acidity throughout the long finish. Lovely now, but worthy of another 5 or so years of cellaring. Awarded 96 points by Wine Enthusiast, who called it “long and elegant,” like “an iron fist in a velvet glove.”
