Bass Phillip is a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producer in South Gippsland, a part of Australia better known for dairy and beef cattle than winemaking. Nevertheless, since 1979 this estate has been growing grapes. Its debut release was a 1984 Pinot Noir. Phillip Jones, winemaker and owner, was an electrical engineer before he decided to try his hand at winemaking, and he has become one of the better known personalities in Australian winemaking. James Halliday, Australia’s leading reviewer, has written that “Phillip Jones handcrafts tiny quantities of superlative Pinot Noir which, at its best, has no equal in Australia…” Halliday chose the 2010 Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir as the 2014 Wine of the Year. Robert M. Parker Jr. has called Bass Phillips Pinot Noir “beautifully concentrated with superb purity, creamy big, thick Burgundian-like texture…”