Joseph Phelps: Newsletter

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	Fall-Winter 2001 Newsletter General Winery News Special Report Harvest Report Phelps Preferred Awards and Reviews Personnel Corner

Harvest 2001

By Tom Garrett

Hard work in the vineyard, luck with weather, and an experienced winemaking crew have added up to some great wines. Craig Williams, Executive Vice-President and Director of Winemaking, sums up the quality of the vintage as "a beefier 1994."

That bodes well as 1994 was considered among the best of a great string of vintages in the 1990's providing big, concentrated, flavorful wines. The weather in 2001 was inconsistent but cooperated at key times in the grapes' maturity. Winemaker Sarah Gott commented that "a warm spring, early bud break and a hot summer followed by cool days, resulted in hang time that was good for the reds and the whites." The white wines, particularly Chardonnay, had high sugar content but were well balanced with high acidity. The red wines are showing "unbelievable quality," said Gott "with a lot of color, good tannin extract and lots of flavor."

But it wasn't easy in the winery. There were anxious picking decisions made toward the end of harvest. In September, fall seemed to start early. Just as the Cabernet Sauvignon lots making up Insignia and Backus were approaching maturity, long, cold foggy mornings and cool days set in. "We wondered if we would get heat again," said Sarah.

According to Craig Williams "The trick to this year was not to lose your head while everyone around you was losing theirs." The vineyard and winemaking teams agreed to hold out through the cold days of September, hoping for more heat; it arrived just at the end of the month. "Things seemed ripe in terms of sugar but heat is important in terms of tannins and flavor development. Grape maturity just sat after September 10th and didn't go anywhere. We picked a little then, just nibbling but [with the burst of sun and heat in the last days of September and beginning of October] everything came flying in."

Bulmaro Montes, General Manager of Vineyard Operations for Joseph Phelps, and his crew are the first line in making great wines, doing all they can to get the finest grapes to the winery. "It was a difficult year," said Bulmaro. "The most important thing was to be patient and to accept what we got from Mother Nature." After the early bud break in May a heat wave hit in June, stressing the vines and stunting growth. "We had to babysit the vines more," said Bulmaro "We had to use more water and amendments and do more thining" in order to help the struggling vines. "It was a very strange year but the quality was in the vineyard."

In the cellar things were easier. Early hot weather led to an early start to harvest. After preparing for a crunch in August, the cellar crew settled into a mild schedule with consistent fruit deliveries but also time for rest. "This has been a cake walk harvest," said Damian Parker, Vice President and head of production. "We had a really good crew and it pays to have people rested, people who want to be here and are not just dog tired." The crew did work many long days toward the end of the season when the majority of red grapes were harvested. Despite the challenges, the whole Phelps team has produced outstanding wines in 2001.

From a harvest intern perspective, I was very impressed by the coordination, organization
and general high sense of morals. A testament to Phelps is its employees, many of whom, from all levels within the winery, have worked for Phelps for decades. An outsider might
think that a staff with so many years with one company would be stagnant; my experience
was the opposite. Phelps continues to be inquisitive and innovative, constantly pushing
quality standards higher. Clearly Phelps employees are proud of what they are producing
and 2001 will provide further proof of the great quality of the wines, vineyards and people Phelps embodies.

Tom Garrett is currently interning at Phelps while pursuing a career in winemaking. Previous work experience includes two years at Turley Wine Cellars and five years as a writer and tasting coordinator for the Wine Spectator.

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