The Crown Prince Pinot Noir is only number four in the Bass Phillip hierarchy (although from the number two or three vineyard), and then I am looking at the 2011 vintage, which was a very wet year, the worst in 10 years. How good can this be?
The 2011 Bass Phillip Crown Prince Pinot Noir shows a light pink colour. It is fairly light on the palate, too, with strawberry flavours and appealing aromatics.This wine is fairly straight forward, but has a caressing mouthfeel and the silkiness typical for Bass Phillip wines. It is an astonishing wine, given the vintage.
It speaks to Phillip Jones' point that great Pinot Noir needs rainfall, not stressed vines. This theory will get played out in Tasmania, where many are planting in the dry parts (the coal river, I think), yet some vineyards, e.g. in the Tamar River are in wet regions. Otherwise the climate is similar. We shall see.
Score: 91/+++
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2 comments:
Phillip's wines sum up this saying perfectly for me.
Aristotle — 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.'
One just wants to drink it up rather than get analytical. As terrible as the word smooth sounds in the lexicon of wine descriptors, sometimes it has its place. I have only had the 08 and 10 but both were SO easy to drink up.
I very much agree with you.
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