Bass Phillip Australia

Bass Phillip ranks among Australia's most respected producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, set amid the green hills of South Gippsland in Victoria. Founded in 1979 by Phillip Jones, the estate draws its name from historical explorers George Bass and Arthur Phillip — a nod to the spirit of discovery that has defined its pursuit of Burgundian-style elegance. As Robert Parker noted when discovering the estate's singular style, this is a brilliant Pinot Noir displaying "superb purity [and a] creamy, big, thick, Burgundian-like texture".

Jones, a former computing specialist who taught himself winemaking, initially planted Cabernet Sauvignon with the dream of emulating Bordeaux's Château Ducru-Beaucaillou. However, a profound encounter with the legendary Burgundies of Henri Jayer altered his trajectory. Realising the cool, humid pockets of Gippsland were far better suited to early-ripening varieties, he entirely replanted the estate to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay by the mid-1980s.

In April 2020, the estate was acquired by a consortium led by renowned Burgundian vigneron Jean-Marie Fourrier of Domaine Fourrier, who had first consulted at the property in 2002. Fourrier stepped in as chief winemaker, preserving Jones's foundational philosophy while infusing his own precise, site-focused approach.

History and Background

After searching widely across Australia for a site capable of producing Pinot Noir with the nuance and elegance he loved in Burgundy, Phillip Jones chose Leongatha's dairy lands for their moderate temperatures, steady rain, and nutrient-packed soils — elements that favour refined expression over bold intensity.

The first commercial Bass Phillip releases arrived in 1991, comprising a retrospective of the 1985 to 1989 vintages. Crucially, 1989 marked the first vintage where Jones separated production into distinct tiers — Estate, Premium, and Reserve — after five years of small-batch fermentation trials to isolate the capabilities of specific vineyard blocks.

The 2020 acquisition consortium joined Fourrier with Singapore-based Soo Hoo Khoon Peng and Hong Kong investor Kent Ho. Under this new leadership, the team maintains Jones's legacy with an heightened emphasis on plot-specific character, meticulous vine-by-vine care, and structural consistency.

“Reminding many of the wines of Coche-Dury.”

by Charles Curtis MW, Decanter on the 00 Wines Chardonnays

Vineyard and Terroir

South Gippsland’s proximity to the chilly waters of the Bass Strait delivers mild summers, high ambient humidity, and cool nights that preserve vibrant acidity and delicate aromatics. Unlike dry-grown regions that can bleach out Pinot Noir’s subtle nuances, Gippsland provides consistent moisture retention that mimics the classic clay-limestone pockets of Europe.

The soils consist of deep, silty loams rich in volcanic minerals, supporting deep root development, and adding a distinct mineral note to the wines. To force the vines to compete for nutrients, the main 3.5-hectare Leongatha vineyard features an extreme planting density of 9,000 vines per hectare — an architecture virtually unheard of in traditional Australian viticulture, which typically hovers around 1,500 to 2,000.

Yields stay exceptionally low, typically cropping at 1.0 to 1.3 tonnes per hectare (roughly 270 grams of fruit per vine, or half a bottle of wine). The estate embraced organic practices in 1993 and progressed to fully biodynamic methods by 2006. Vineyard work follows natural cycles, utilizing lunar-timed pruning and harvesting alongside natural preparations to enhance soil vitality without synthetic inputs.

Winemaking Philosophy

The cellar approach is defined by restraint and deep respect for the fruit. Native-yeast fermentations proceed with minimal mechanical intervention — avoiding heavy pumping or filtration — to preserve texture and layers. Sulfur is used judiciously, often paired with extended lees aging for natural stability.

Under Jean-Marie Fourrier’s guidance, the winemaking team places an even greater emphasis on letting the fruit breathe. This includes a deliberate reduction in the use of new oak, favoring older barrels and extended maturation to ensure the wood integrates gently rather than dominating the wine's perfume and exactness.

Signature Wines

The hierarchy at Bass Phillip is a direct map of the vineyard. As you move up the portfolio, the vines become older, the planting density tightens, and the unique volcanic soil of Leongatha takes center stage.

Estate Pinot Noir
Sourced entirely from the main estate plots, this serves as a charming entry point into the house style. It is bright, energetic, and accessible in its youth, offering a pure expression of crunchy red berries, wild five-spice, and fine, chalky tannins that allow it to evolve gracefully over a decade.

Premium Pinot Noir
This is where the estate's serious character reveals itself. Crafted from select older-vine sections of the vineyard, the Premium often incorporates whole-cluster fermentation to add aromatic lift. The profile shifts here from bright red fruit to something much deeper and more savoury —brooding dark cherries, damp earth, and dried lavender. Jean-Marie Fourrier’s recent vintages have earned extensive acclaim for dialing back the new oak, giving the wine an incredible sense of perfume, exactness, and sheer poise.

Reserve Pinot Noir
The undisputed crown jewel of the lineup. Sourced strictly from five specific rows of low-yielding, old MV6 heritage clone vines planted in the original 1979 vineyard, production is tiny and limited to exceptional years. It balances a haunting purity of red fruit with complex notes of fresh truffles and forest floor, anchored by a driving mineral core. The seamless finish rivals Grand Cru Burgundy, exemplified by landmark releases like the 2010, which was named James Halliday’s Australian Wine of the Year with 99 points.

Chardonnay
Though Pinot Noir gets the headlines, the Chardonnays are brilliant, hidden gems following a parallel philosophy. The estate completely avoids malolactic fermentation here to protect the region's sharp, chiseled natural acidity. Instead of a heavy, buttery wine, it delivers citrus-driven elegance, intense mineral tension, and a creamy, layered texture derived entirely from patient, extended lees contact rather than a heavy hand with new wood.

Recognition and Impact

Bass Phillip’s impact on the landscape of fine wine cannot be overstated. It holds a permanent, coveted "Exceptional" status in the Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine — the highest honor for New World collectibles — and its top scores from global critics keep allocations fiercely competitive. As Langton’s co-founder Andrew Caillard MW once noted, Bass Phillip is "the ultimate cult Pinot Noir of Australia", celebrated for "redefining the possibilities of the variety in the Southern Hemisphere".

Beyond scores, the estate has single-handedly elevated South Gippsland's reputation as a premier cool-climate region while advancing sustainable, high-density practices in Australian viticulture. Their wines appear almost exclusively in elite auctions and premium global restaurant rosters, captivating enthusiasts with their refined quality and unique expression of place.

Bass Phillip captures the best of Australian fine wine as a pioneering force in terroir-driven Pinot Noir, now guided by a Burgundy standout Jean-Marie Fourrier. Under Fourrier’s steady hand, Bass Phillip continues to set the standard for what cool-climate finesse can achieve Down Under, which also serves as an essential reference for any serious enthusiast.

2017 Clos des Papes • Chateauneuf du Pape

He blends grapes from his different plots to co-ferment in large vats, after which he then re-blends in to large 20-55 hectoliter wooden foudres (casks) to mature for 15 months. New or small barrels are never used, “I like the oak to make an indirect impact – I only want tannins from the grape skins not even the pips and certainly not the stalks” says Avril. And though it may not be widely known, this domaine has been buying corks from the same producer in Portugal ever since 1926!

The wines are no doubt enticing, garnering great praise from many publications and critics such as Wine Spectator who awarded their 2005 vintage as “Wine of the Year”, stating that “in the Southern Rhône's recent trio of great vintages starting with 2003, no other Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaine has produced better wines than Clos des Papes”. But the accolades don’t stop there, as Robert Parker followed on to pronounce the 2007 vintage “the greatest Chateauneuf du Pape made since 1978 and 1990”.

We at Ginsberg+Chan are extremely proud to be the exclusive distributors of Clos des Papes, and with good volumes of both red and white back vintages too, we can ensure you a wide range of drinking windows for your cellar.

Available Wines From Bass Phillip