Country: | Australia |
Region: | South Eastern Australia |
Winery: | Bass Phillip |
Grape Type: | Pinot Noir |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Lismore Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
Complex bouquet of crushed rose petals, wild jasmine and fresh French herbs followed by a palate full of cranberry, raspberry and a long savory finish.
The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness. 30% whole bunch fermented in large 5000 liter vats with gentle pump-overs twice a day. The process allowed for a long extraction period which lends to the fruit expression and structure of this wine. The free run wine was drained off and the fermented grapes were then pressed in a traditional wooden basket press. The wine was racked into 225, 300 and 500 liter barrels where malolactic fermentation took place and the wine was aged for 10 months. 35% new French oak was used.
Review:
"The 2018 Pinot Noir comes from Walker Bay and Kaaimansgat and includes 30% whole-bunch fruit, aged for 11 months in 25% new oak. The bouquet sports vivid red cherry and raspberry fruit that is exceptionally well defined and beautifully integrated with the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, well-judged acidity and a slightly fleshy texture. There is just the right amount of salinity here, and the finish is kept on a tight leash, allowing the detail and precision to be fully expressed. A slight sour edge on the finish keeps you coming back for another sip. Excellent and reassuringly classy. - Neal Martin" - Antonio Galloni's Vinous (November 2019), 92 pts
"Walker Bay and Elandskloof are the twin sources of 30% whole bunch-fermented Pinot from Sam O'Keefe. Juicy, floral and charming, it's a graceful, fruit forward style with some clove and tobacco spice and refreshing acidity. The finish is a little firmer than I remember. 2020-24"- Tim Atkin (South Africa 2020 Special Report), 92 pts
Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir Dundee Hills is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
A medley of graphite, spice and crushed red strawberries waft from the glass. Further digging reveals even more to the nose of this Pinot Noir, in the flickering form of oak spice and caramelized fruits. On the palate, there’s opulent fruit and signature Dundee Hills spices like allspice, cardamom and sandalwood. The palate is loaded, with fresh strawberry jam and an underlying earthiness taking the lead. Structurally, there are soft oak tannins that give way to an exquisitely long and balanced finish.
Argot Pinot Noir Sonoma County is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Everything you have come to expect from an Argot Pinot Noir, shone through the filter of a textbook-perfect vintage. We simply can not get over the quality of fruit this wine displays! Intense, yet fresh; fruity, yet spicy; brambly, yet juicy; immediate, yet lingering. A Pinot Noir that displays the variety’s natural come-hither attitude, while succinctly capturing its intriguing nature. There are not enough superlatives to describe this wine. Almost too easy to love!
VINEYARD Multiple vineyards throughout Sonoma County, including both valley floor and high-elevation hillside sites
PRODUCTION 600 cases
VARIETAL 100% Pinot Noir
CRUSH Night harvested by hand beginning in mid-September, concluding at our coolest sit on October 13. Cluster and berry sorted by hand, de-stemmed, no crushing
FERMENT 7-day cold soaks, followed by native fermentation in open-top containers, with the grapes fermenting on their skins for an average time of 14 days.
AGING 16 months, French oak barrels, 7% new, remainder once-used. Never racked prior to bottling. Bottled un-fined, unfiltered.
NOTES Singularly great. 2018 was an all-time vintage for California’s North Coast, achieving rarely before experienced heights. A mild summer gave way to Autumnal perfection, allowing cooler areas the opportunity to ripen their crop while chemistries remained perfect. What arrives in bottle is nothing short of a pinnacle representation of Sonoma County Pinot Noir — profound depth of pure, red Pinot Noir fruits, caressing textures balanced by deep minerality and a quenching acidity.
Maison Roy Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir combines fruit from Roy's Dundee and Yamhill-Carlton estates. Gentle and suave, this Pinot offers inviting red fruit, baking spice, and a touch of purple floral tone. On the palate, a soft tannic structure makes this wine friendly and accessible in its youth and will keep drinking very well for the next 5-7years.
Toil Oregon Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Dark garnet color. Seductive aromas of black tea, tobacco, and crushed tart cherry and blackberry. Faint notes of vanilla and toast accentuate dark plumb and cherry character. The palate is seamless with silky texture and long sweetness. Classic Oregon Pinot Noir from an outstanding vintage. So incredibly pleased to present the first Toil Oregon Pinot Noir that includes fruit from Toil Estate Vineyard! It is an understatement to say our estate fruit is an amazingly positive contributor to the final blend.
Review:
Young yet already showing layers of complexity, this opens with strawberry, raspberry and cranberry fruit, along with a whiff of smoke. It's well set up with ample acidity, and aging in one-third new French oak. Toil wines need a few years to reveal their full power, as tastings of past vintages show. Aerate this aggressively and drink with pleasure now into the 2030s
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
Great structure meets a lush texture in this red, with cherry and raspberry flavors that gather bay leaf and dusky spice flavors toward medium-grain tannins. Drink now through 2029. 754 cases made.
-Wine Spectator 93 Points
Paul Hobbs George Menini Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
A more reflective style of Pinot Noir from the Sebastopol Hills, our inaugural release presents deep ruby in hue with fresh raspberry, mountain strawberry, and baking spices. On the palate, notes of blue fruits, sandstone, and vanilla caress the palate, framed by supple tannins and juicy acidity creating tension. This is a bright and focused wine with a long, elegant finish.
Review:
This is so spicy, with crushed cloves, nettles and blue fruit. Sichuan spices, too. Full-bodied with juicy fruit and orange zest. Creamy and polished tannins. Wonderful depth and length. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 97 Points
Bass Phillips Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
From the original Estate vineyard; 8,500 vines/hectare; specific plot cropping at approx. one tonne/acre, often blended with the best fruit from our Leongatha Vineyard. Wine with attractive, rich fruits in the mid-palate, with the strength to improve up to ten years in the cellar. Bottled without fining or filtration.
The exquisitely balanced single vineyard Estate Pinot Noir draws fruit from the extremely low cropping, closely spaced north easterly facing, four hectare un-irrigated vineyard. The wine is vinified in an open stainless steel fermenter with regular plunging to extract colour and flavour. After fermentation the wine is gravity racked into a combination of new (60%) and old French Alliers oak for a maturation period of around 15 to 18 months.
Review:
This bottling is the most linear and acid driven of the range. A translucent strawberry hue, the nose is open and elegant, with delicate aromas of fresh red berries, dried roses, white pepper, terra cotta and savory spice. There's an initial burst of tingly acidity on the tongue that mellows, allowing the silky textured fruit, savory, floral and mineral nuances to shine. Drink now–2030.
-Wine Enthusiast 96 Points
Bass Phillip is named after George Bass and Arthur Phillip – men of great pioneering spirit, foresight and leadership during the nineteenth century. The Bass Phillip vineyards were first established, many years later, in the southeastern corner of Australia in 1979, specialising in high-quality pinot noir and chardonnay wines.
Winemaking at Bass Phillip is uncompromising and driven by the respect for nature. The vineyards have been organic since 1993 and biodynamic since 2002. All wine production processes at Bass Phillip are guided by the cosmic rhythms that impart energy and vibrancy into the wines.
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. Deep mineral-rich soils, natural high humidity, and cooler temperatures in South Gippsland is also part of the magic that delivers the length, complexity, flavors, balanced acidity, and natural minerality to Bass Phillip wines. Combining undivided attention to detail in the vineyards and winery, and an insatiable passion for quality wine experiences, Bass Phillip produces extraordinary wines one vintage after another.
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.
What makes Bass Phillip unique?
Wines at Bass Phillip are handcrafted with strict scientific analysis and monitored with rigorous quality control. However the story doesn’t end there, the real essence of Bass Phillip’s wine production is to allow the forces of nature to maintain control. Minimal human intervention is practiced wherever possible – no irrigation/pesticides/fertilizers, minimal pumping/ filtration, natural yeast, no fining agents.
As a perfectionist, we crop our fruit at incredibly low levels to achieve the objectives in flavour development. We believe strongly in a gentle hand. Racking is kept to a minimum and no pumps are used in the winery. “The difference between good and great Pinot Noir is texture. We try to minimise the bruising effects that pumping can have on this texture.” Ultimately our priority is to produce a wine that is completely natural and which expresses vineyard site. This sounds simple, but such a high standard does require a relentless pursuit of perfection – and a degree of madness.
The Biodynamic practice at Bass Phillip is planned according to the lunar cycles. Adopting these practices means that each vintage of Bass Phillip wines exhibits the characteristics of “mother nature’s” temperament, expressing the harmony of earth, moon and sun. Displaying the natural influences of nature’s power and elegance.
South Gippsland's "Terroir"
South Gippsland is not only renowned for dairy and beef, but also the giant Gippsland earthworm, which play an active role in the fertilization and airing of the deep mineral-rich soil of the vineyards. The region is blessed with approx.1,000 millimetres of rainfall per annum and a deep, silty loam soil filled with volcanic minerals. High temperatures (mid 30 Celsius degrees) in the summer months are balanced by humidity and late afternoon, cool air from Bass Straight. All these factors contribute to the intense flavours, aromatics and exceptional length in the finish, which are trademarks of Bass Phillip’s vibrant, yet graceful wines.
Dense Vines & Low Yields
This is basically a story of “quality overrides quantity”
High density planting is one of the approaches taken by Bass Phillip to prove that Australia can produce a jaw-dropping pinot that is comparable with the best from the Pinot Monarch – Burgundy, France.
Bass Phillip achieves a cropping level of 1.0 -1.3 tonnes per acre (compared to from 2 to 4 tons per acre average in Australia). We believe this contributes to intensity and length of flavour which is not always prominent in Aussie pinots. Many question the economics of this low level of yield, but when the wine-making is driven by an obsession for perfection and instinctive flair, production costs become secondary.
Although a single vine at Bass Phillip barely makes half a bottle of wine, the highly perfumed nose, robust flavors, exquisite textures, profound complexity and minerality contained in each bottle provide a justification for this practice.
Luis XIV Fondillon Oro 50 years NV is made from 100 percent 100% Monastrell (Mourvedre). Only 24 9 liter cases produced.
The wine is produced in the village of Cañada, in the subarea of Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante. Made from 100% Monastrell planted on traditional dry land as bush vines, at 550-580 meters above sea leval and enjoying a Mediterranean climate with great marine influence due to the easterly winds.
Fondillon 50 years is mahogany in color with orange tile rim, medium layer and great density. On the nose, it has a very deep aroma of old wood, black tea and carob. In the mouth, it has a sweet entry balanced by a rich high acidity. Its aromas are long, almost eternal and very intense. It tastes like old mahogany, a very old barrel and bygone times.
Bottled in December 2019.
AGEING:
CASK NAME: Saboners.
AGEING: Aged more than 50 years (single barrel).
TYPE OF WOOD: 19th-century American oak barrels
CASK SIZE: 70 “cántaros valencianos” (805 litros).
ANALYSIS:
GLUCOSE AND FRUCTOSE: 34 gr/litre.
VOLATILE ACIDITY: 1.35 gr/l.
ALCOHOL: 16.2º (NO ADDED ALCOHOL).
FREE SULFITES: less than 10 mg/litre.
TOTAL SULFITES: 76 mg/litre.
Review:
Dark mahogany color, candied fruit aromas, fruit liqueur notes, spicy, varnish, acetaldehyde, bakery, complex. Fine solera notes, bitter flavors."
- Penin 2022, 99 pts
"The NV Fondillón Luis XIV has the subtitle Edad Superior a 50 años (over 50 years old), and it's a dark mahogany, bottled from a single barrel that has the specific profile of a very old wine greatly concentrated by age, which tends to make it similar to other very old and concentrated wines, be it a Mediterranean rancio or a very old Moscatel. It has notes of bitter chocolate, coconut and iodine, carob beans (algarroba) and some bittersweet sensations. It's dense and concentrated, and the palate is pungent, with very intense flavors and a bitter twist in the finish. This has 16.3% alcohol, 6.45 grams of acidity and 34 grams of sugar, but it comes through as very dry. The wine is long and extraordinary, but it just doesn't have any Fondillón character after decades of concentration by evaporation. The price is ludicrous. Only 435 half-liter bottles were filled in December 2019. - Luis GUTIERREZ
- Wine Advocate (September 2020), 95 pts
"Fondillón is an extraordinary treasure of Alicante, a rare product, made from late harvest, non-botrytised grapes, unfortified, but with a final alcohol of no less than 16%. Intense, aged, but not sweet (deliciously not more than 45g/l). Fab with cheese or dark chocolate. The wines have to be a minimum of 10 years; this release is more than 25 years. The project is a revival by David Carbonell of Vins del Comtat and two local families. Very limited quantities. - Sarah Jane Evans MW"
- Decanter (December 2021, My top 10 Spanish fine wines of 2021), 95 pts
True to its name, Inkblot Petite Sirah is dark and inky in color with huckleberry, Maraschino cherry and cedar on the nose. Rich and weighty, this full-bodied wine reveals flavors of boysenberry, dark chocolate and peppery spice carried through by a long finish with smooth, polished tannins.
Review:
Find rich, robust notes of overripe blackberry, black plum and blueberry—reminiscent of mixed-berry pie—alongside integrated oak notes and plush, mouth-coating tannins. For lovers of big, bold wines, this sip is for you.
-Wine Enthusiast 90 Points