About This Wine
A typically uncompromising Gamay from Phillip Jones, best known for his Pinot Noirs, made from vines planted at Leongatha in South Gippsland at high density (9000 vines per ha). A light, fine wine with aromas of dark and sour cherries and spice, with great freshness, plus a steely backbone of natural acidity. The palate is long and lean and finishes clean and fresh.
The gamay is not made by the traditional Beaujolais technique of carbonic maceration, which includes the entire bunches which are subjected to a pre-fermentation period of whole-berry enzymatic reaction. Instead, this gamay is made much like the pinot noirs, with destemming and whole-berry fermentation, with hand plunging beginning before the yeast fermentation starts.
About the Producer
Australia’s always been a land with a brave and pioneering spirit - from building settlements in the desert, to the national pastimes of crocodile wrangling, shark punching and perhaps most dangerous of all, Aussie rules football. It is with this national taste for adventure and new sensations that Bass Phillip was founded in Victoria, a winery which takes its name from two explorers who first mapped this part of the country. For about twenty years now, Bass Phillip has been on the front line of the ‘new Australian’ wine scene. Phillip Jones, the brains behind the outfit, has been using some seriously fine terroir, plenty of patience, and a whole bunch of forward-thinking viticultural methods to achieve one key goal: to establish Pinot Noir as a real contender for the finest grape varietal down under. To say he’s achieved what he set out to do would be something of a major understatement - Bass Phillip is regularly cited as being ‘outstanding’, and is way up there with the other big names of Australian wine production.
Phillip Jones would claim it has a lot to do with the location of his winery. His vineyards are nestled deep in the beautiful cool climate sub-region of Leongatha in Gippsland, where the deep blue waters bring calming breezes - perfect climatic conditions for slow-ripening, finicky Pinot Noir grapes. However, his fans would be quick to point to Jones’ farming techniques, which do away with irrigation, pesticides and other such interventions, allowing his top-quality fruit to do what it does best.
Specifications
Vintage: 2022
Grape Variety: Gamay
Region: Gippsland / Victoria / Australia
Fermentation: Destemmed, whole-berry fermentation with hand plunging before yeast fermentation
Classification: Sustainable Farming, Vegan
Alcohol: 13.4-14%
Closure: Cork
Drinking Window: 2024–2027