The Auswine Forum

As a self confessed Pinophile I was rather exited when my Father in law 'let me at' his Pinot wine fridge the other evening. I pulled out a bottle of Bass Phillip Premium Pinot, gave it a decant and let sit for an hour whilst I finished making dinner. I had cooked a very French roast duckling dish and was really excited about the wine. Ian my Father in law pulled out a couple a Riedel and poured our glasses.......Now I have to say...I didn't get it and didn't enjoy it. I have tried just about all the premium Pinot from Australia and New Zealand, for a wine that is surposed to be Australia's finest example of such I was bitterly disapointed. The evenings Pinot's also included Felton Road, Mt Difficulty, Grosset and Paringa Estate so we did have some good benchmarks. We tasted it over the course of 4 hours to see the development and I was still left with the bitter aftertaste of disapointment.

trenton wrote:... tasted it over the course of 4 hours to see the development and I was still left with the bitter aftertaste of disapointment.

As a pinotphile you should be used to ths by now.

As I personally don't have the addictive personality or money to drink the pinots I would really enjoy and hence avoid most of them, all I can say is the 3-4 times I've tried Bass Phillip (all quite young) I've always wondered what the fuss was about.

trenton wrote:As a self confessed Pinophile I was rather exited when my Father in law 'let me at' his Pinot wine fridge the other evening. I pulled out a bottle of Bass Phillip Premium Pinot, gave it a decant and let sit for an hour whilst I finished making dinner. I had cooked a very French roast duckling dish and was really excited about the wine. Ian my Father in law pulled out a couple a Riedel and poured our glasses.......Now I have to say...I didn't get it and didn't enjoy it. I have tried just about all the premium Pinot from Australia and New Zealand, for a wine that is surposed to be Australia's finest example of such I was bitterly disapointed. The evenings Pinot's also included Felton Road, Mt Difficulty, Grosset and Paringa Estate so we did have some good benchmarks. We tasted it over the course of 4 hours to see the development and I was still left with the bitter aftertaste of disapointment.

I don't mind Bass Phillip myself but I can't afford it. I love their pinot rose though. As for your bottle there are many issues. Was it a poor bottle? What vintage was it? This is quite important for a wine from a marginal climate.

More importantly perhaps is what are the pinots that you DO like? Judging by the others you mentioned they are mostly in the richer vein of pinot. If so then BP would not be your thing. As I am only a part-time pinotphile (only when it is full moon and my palms get itchy) I shall give the floor to crazier pinotphiles

cheers

Carl

At its best, irrefutably Australia's greatest pinot, esp. the Reserve (structure, persistence, ageability, complexity and length). Have had vintages back to 1992. The Premium chardonnay is also exceptional - made only in exceptional years (last two were 1999 and 2004). But at these prices, much prefer red burgs like 1er crus from Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanee.

So what didn't you enjoy about it?

Red Bigot wrote:
As a pinotphile you should be used to ths by now.

Troll....

Great post trenton - welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately it's not a question I can't give an answer to as I haven't ever tried the Premium Pinot, but others might with a little more information - what was the vintage?

Cheers,
Ian

Ian and Danny, thanks for the reply post. It was a 2001 and had no actual wine faults so to speak. I know Phillip is a fan of sticks and stones filtration but I found it was like drinking thin, sour mud. Perhaps our bottle was the dregs of the barrel, don't tell Phillip though cause I'm still trying to get on his mailing list I shall humour you with my tasting notes anyway. "Elegent nose, red berries lifting off the forrest floor. Tight and long on the pallete but little depth or intensity, full of unripe cherries. Very hard to get past the texture which was chalky and thin" I love Phillips winemaking philosophy but for me a great pinot should make you want to throw your lover onto the dinner table in a sensual Pinot driven frenzy.

trenton wrote:Ian and Danny, thanks for the reply post. It was a 2001 and had no actual wine faults so to speak. I know Phillip is a fan of sticks and stones filtration but I found it was like drinking thin, sour mud. Perhaps our bottle was the dregs of the barrel, don't tell Phillip though cause I'm still trying to get on his mailing list I shall humour you with my tasting notes anyway. "Elegent nose, red berries lifting off the forrest floor. Tight and long on the pallete but little depth or intensity, full of unripe cherries. Very hard to get past the texture which was chalky and thin" I love Phillips winemaking philosophy but for me a great pinot should make you want to throw your lover onto the dinner table in a sensual Pinot driven frenzy.

Oh! That was a warmer vintage. Haven't had this myself. Unripe and thin for you and no bottle faults? If so I would not worry about getting onto the list!

cheers

Carl

Crazier pinotphile here... the 2001 Bass Phillip Premium Pinot Noir is one of my greatest ever Australian Pinot Noir experiences back in 2005. Either the bottle was dodgy or it is not your style. If it is not your style, as the ones you mention indeed indicate, don't bother getting on the mailing list (it will be an expensive lesson) and don't bother with Bindi, Epis, Giaconda and Main Ridge either.

Kind regards,
Adair

Funny how tastes differ. Bass Phillip Pinot has consistently been one of my favourites. The dead-set opposite to what is described here. I find them bright, full-bodied, and by my definition, "deliciously feral" when compared to the more one-dimensional offerings I see and taste. I see that "feral" character I love in Giaconda too. And I must agree with Adair. If you really disliked the Bass Phillip (and it wasn't just a one-off bad bottle or similar), then stay away from the others mentioned.

Continuing, I will however, introduce my caveat - and by your explanation I think you may have transgressed ...?

The wine MUST be stood upright, and left well alone, for a day prior to drinking, so that all sediment is allowed to settle on the bottle bottom.

The wine MUST be decanted off the sediment, carefully. That sediment IS very muddy, and bitter, and it doesn't take much to get it mixed in with what should be crystal-clear pinot.

The wine MUST be decanted an hour, preferably two, prior to drinking.

MHO only, but it works for me, every time.

In a word, "yes", worth every cent.

I had this wine nearly a year ago and I can confidently say it was my Wine of the Year (WOTY)

Here is my tasting note from then:

01 Bass Phillip Premium Pinot Noir OMG! This wine could turn me into a pinotphile. I think this is my WOTY to date. Just amazing stuff. A cloudy purple colour. So much going on in the glass though. Sweet strawberries, cherries and earthiness. Went perfectly with the truffled omlette. Very complex flavours in the mouth rolling over and over with fantastic length. Kinda savoury, kinda sweet, not too much of anything and lots of everything. I only got one bottle of this in a mixed half dozen and seriously regret not getting a lot more. There may have been limits, thinking about it. This has really opened my eyes to pinot which I've never really been much of a fan of but can now understand all the fuss. High Distinction

I was really VERY impressed and would buy it again without hesitation, if I hadn't just spent more money than I care to think of on my girlfriend's 40th birthday.

Anyhoo, I very much think you must have had a dodgy bottle. Everyone who drank this at the table was blown away so it wasn't just my strange opinion. It was very full bodied and not at all thin and chalky. I'd say this is the best pinot I've every had by a long shot, not that I've tasted too many burgundies but I've had quite a few aussie pinots (although, again, this is not such a high benchmark). The same night we had a 96 Rockford Basket Press and a 96 BVE Black Pepper. While the Basket Press was astounding, the pinot was in a different league.

I can still very clearly taste this wine in my mouth, such was the impression it made. The only other wine I can say that about is the 1904 Seppelt 100 year old port and to date, that is the WOML (wine of my life)

Almost my wine of the year, had it alongside Noon & Torbreck (obviously not Pinot) and found it annoyingly good - annoying because its too hard to get and too expensive. Tasted it at Wine Australia and was underwhelmed, but a few months ago it was awesome.

Cheers, Duncan

All the Bass Phillips I tasted last year at Wine Oz were quite good to my tastes Especially liked the premium, rare and pinot rose.

Alex F wrote:All the Bass Phillips I tasted last year at Wine Oz were quite good to my tastes Especially liked the premium, rare and pinot rose.

The rose was stellar for me!

cheers

Carl

No.

M.

I was recently given a bottle of Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir 2002

I can't seem to find tasting notes anywhere, could someone please post their impressions of thsi vintage, thanks in advance

I was recently given a bottle of Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir 2002

I can't seem to find tasting notes anywhere, could someone please post their impressions of thsi vintage, thanks in advance

From www.onwine.com.au - Jeremy Oliver:

Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir 2002

category: tasting note date: 17/07/2004

Silky, stylish pinot with a pungent, smoky and meaty bouquet of red cherries, dark plus, star anise and chocolate, with nuances of prunes and currants. Supple, smooth and silky, it’s long and fine-grained, with a generous, vibrant palate of black cherry and berry fruit before a slightly drying, fine-grained finish and lingering meaty farmyard nuances. (South Gippsland, 18.2, 2010-2014+)

HOWEVER, JO also rated it 16.7/20 with a window of 2010 - 2014... but I am not too sure which review is the latest.

Either way, in my experoence, JO is rather long with his drinking windows. I would open now and enjoy.

Adair

As a pinotphile you should be used to ths by now.

wise words and very true. its life jim

Craig(NZ) wrote:

As a pinotphile you should be used to ths by now.

wise words and very true. its life jim

Maybe if you live in New Zealand, but Aussie Pinots are now very consistent with some amazing value to be found at all price points from $10 to $60.

Adair

Craig(NZ) wrote:its life jim

...and FWIW, which is not much, I finally finished the complete series (all 7 seasons) of Voyager last night. Opened the Buller Rare Tokay to celebrate... after a bottle of Pinot of course.

No "get a life comments" please.

Adair

I tried their range at wine australia the other year, and i didn't quite get what all the fuss was about for the money.

Probably more european and 'stinky' than a lot of NZ and aussie pinots going, so maybe it's just not to your taste?