A new vintage is upon us, and we're pleased to release the 2021 Bass Phillip wines. Our winery team, led by Jean-Marie Fourrier had this to say about the vintage:
"The Bass Phillip 2021 vintage is the first vintage whereby the full growing season, vinification, elevage and bottling are all under the control of the new team, led by Jean-Marie Fourrier. The team focused on precision and attention to detail throughout the year, both in the vineyard and in the winery. The growing season, while challenging during the early growth stages, developed into ideal flowering, fruit set, and ripening phases. The above average yields have resulted in elegant and finessed wines with complexity and red summer fruits up front. The wines have great cellaring potential, or be equally enjoyable in their youth. As we continue the investments and improvements here at Bass Phillip, we hope the 2021 vintage brings you as much pleasure as we had in nurturing it."
Get privileged access to the latest Bass Phillip 2021 wines when you SIGN UP or LOGIN as a Club Member today. Limited stocks available, whilst stocks last!
New Release Includes
2021 Bass Phillip Premium Pinot Noir
2021 Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir
2021 Bass Phillip 'Since 1979' Pinot Noir
2021 Bass Phillip Premium Chardonnay
2021 Bass Phillip Estate Chardonnay
*Our 2021 Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir will be released globally in Sep 2023
More About Vintage 2021
Overall, a very favourable vintage with the potential to make some high-quality wine. Weather conditions were largely benign, quite mild to cool during spring/ early summer but then warmed up a bit through summer and autumn- the growing degree day index was a moderate 1359°C. Total rainfall of 488 mm over the growing period, with around 30 mm per month from January to April, keeping vines in good health. We started handpicking Pinot Noir from the Leongatha vineyard on the 5th March, finishing on the 31st March. Ripeness ranged from 13.2 -14.0 Baume, with good acid/ pH balance. However, yields were a rather high 6.9 tonne / hectare which allowed for long slow ripening.
More About The Winemaking
Bunches are carefully sorted upon arrival at the winery on a sorting table then conveyed to a ‘state of the art’ incline destemmer. The whole berries are gently conveyed directly to open fermenters with an addition of 40 ppm SO2. A natural ferment starts usually within 4 days but hand plunging commences from the start until draining/pressing. Usually between 10-14 days from harvest, the wine is drained, the skins pressed gently and combined with the free run wine which is settled for a week or so before racking to barrel using gravity. Malo lactic occurs naturally in barrel and once complete the wine gets 60 ppm SO2. Our Estate Pinot is a selection of the best barrels of our Leongatha vineyard of which 22% were new this year. All barrels are lightly toasted and extra tight grain oak. Barrels are topped and checked regularly. Wine stays in barrel for 14 months, then it simply gravity decanted off lees via a spigot inserted at the bottom of the barrel to a blending tank. No fining of any sort, or filtration before bottling in July 2022. A natural deposit may become present over time in the bottle.
We hope you enjoy the 2021 vintage, a masterpiece in itself, and look forward to having you with us as we continue to evolve.
