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Open: 10:00am-3:30pm (last tasting appointment is 2:30pm on weekends)
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012
Directions:
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Tasting:
One of the goals of my last-minute Napa trip in May was to hit some of my old favorites long before there was a barlinwine.com and see what I thought of them now. After a disappointing trip to Homewood, I was a little apprehensive to return to Joseph Phelps. They were one of the first premium wineries I truly began to enjoy, and in the early 2000s their Le Mistral blend was my go-to best value wine and their Cabernet a special splurge. Then came 2005, and Phelps’ 2002 Insignia was ranked the #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator. Overnight, prices on all wines jumped 20% (and the Insignia went from a pricey $125 to an out-of-range $200). They priced me out as a customer and I hadn’t had their wines in quite some time.
However, I remembered Phelps having a great view and a relaxed tasting experience to complement their excellent wine, and I was interested to compare the current experience having visited literally hundreds of wineries since my last trip there. So I returned, price-aware and with a singular goal: enjoy the tasting for what it is.
Back when many tastings were free, Joseph Phelps was charging a whopping $20 to taste. Like the prices of their wines, the tasting fee had gone up as well, to $30. To be more precise, $30 was the entry point. I reminded myself that the pours used to be pretty heavy and $30 got you a healthy pour of Insignia along with other Phelps favorites. But now there was another wrinkle -- if you were feeling adventurous, you could add a taste of a second Insignia (2005) plus their Eisrebe ice wine for a whopping $60. Well, I didn’t fly all the way to California to stand on the sidelines and count my pennies. One $60 tasting coming up!
Tastings are conducted on Phelps’s terrace patio facing west and overlooking the vineyards and a good portion of the Napa Valley. The view and setting is great for wine, and the tasting is conducted in a relaxed “come to the bar when you’re ready for your next wine” style. It was particularly windy which made things a tad more difficult with tasting sheets blowing around, but overall the setting was as I remembered it. We got started with our tasting (Meredith joined me for this one), which was really broken into four sections: two white wines, two Pinot Noirs, the Cabernet plus the Insignias, and the dessert wine.
For the two white wines, we tried the Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc and the 2009 Freestone Vineyards Chardonnay. Phelps purchased Freestone Vineyards in 1999 and began planting and producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, to complement their Cabernet and Syrah from Napa Valley. The Sauvignon Blanc was good, but not $32/bottle good. I’m not much of a fan of the Freestone Vineyard wines (you can read my review of my visit to their facility here), and drinking the Chardonnay from Phelps’s lovely patio didn’t make it taste any better.
For our next batch of wines, we tried the 2009 Freestone Vineyards Pinot Noir (not great, see above) and a very good 2009 Pinot Noir from the Quarter Moon Vineyard in Sonoma Coast. The tasting notes advertised this as “the perfect wine for grilled lamb kabobs”, and I’d have to agree. But with a $75 price tag attached, was it better than, say, the Williams Selyem Rochioli Vineyard Pinot? Nope.
On to the section of the tasting I was most excited about: the Cabernets! Phelps still makes a very good entry point Cabernet. When it used to come in at around $40, it was a great value; now at $58, it’s still a good wine and one I would buy, but this is also a wine that I can get at Binny’s. Our palates prepped, we moved on to the Insignia’s, and procured a second glass to allow us to try the 2008 and the 2005 Insignia side-by-side. I do still really love this wine. The $200 retail price is a bit ridiculous, but both years were great, with the 2005 edging the 2008 for me.
We closed with the dessert Eiswine, which was good but did not distinguish itself from other dessert wines for me, and especially not at $50 for 375ml. A few pictures later we were done with the return to Phelps in 30 minutes or less.
Overall, not much has changed with the Phelps tasting experience in the last 10 years, other than an increase in prices across the board. The setting remains the same, they still collect tasting fees independent of purchase, and while the pours may have been slightly smaller, they were sufficient to allow two of us to share a tasting and get a good sense of the wines. They still make really good wine – I just wish prices were still what they were in 2002.
Back when many tastings were free, Joseph Phelps was charging a whopping $20 to taste. Like the prices of their wines, the tasting fee had gone up as well, to $30. To be more precise, $30 was the entry point. I reminded myself that the pours used to be pretty heavy and $30 got you a healthy pour of Insignia along with other Phelps favorites. But now there was another wrinkle -- if you were feeling adventurous, you could add a taste of a second Insignia (2005) plus their Eisrebe ice wine for a whopping $60. Well, I didn’t fly all the way to California to stand on the sidelines and count my pennies. One $60 tasting coming up!
For the two white wines, we tried the Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc and the 2009 Freestone Vineyards Chardonnay. Phelps purchased Freestone Vineyards in 1999 and began planting and producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, to complement their Cabernet and Syrah from Napa Valley. The Sauvignon Blanc was good, but not $32/bottle good. I’m not much of a fan of the Freestone Vineyard wines (you can read my review of my visit to their facility here), and drinking the Chardonnay from Phelps’s lovely patio didn’t make it taste any better.
On to the section of the tasting I was most excited about: the Cabernets! Phelps still makes a very good entry point Cabernet. When it used to come in at around $40, it was a great value; now at $58, it’s still a good wine and one I would buy, but this is also a wine that I can get at Binny’s. Our palates prepped, we moved on to the Insignia’s, and procured a second glass to allow us to try the 2008 and the 2005 Insignia side-by-side. I do still really love this wine. The $200 retail price is a bit ridiculous, but both years were great, with the 2005 edging the 2008 for me.
We closed with the dessert Eiswine, which was good but did not distinguish itself from other dessert wines for me, and especially not at $50 for 375ml. A few pictures later we were done with the return to Phelps in 30 minutes or less.
Overall, not much has changed with the Phelps tasting experience in the last 10 years, other than an increase in prices across the board. The setting remains the same, they still collect tasting fees independent of purchase, and while the pours may have been slightly smaller, they were sufficient to allow two of us to share a tasting and get a good sense of the wines. They still make really good wine – I just wish prices were still what they were in 2002.
Recommended wine: The Insignia is consistently fantastic. The Joseph Phelps Cabernet is still a decent bargain at under $60.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.50 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.75 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 3.75 |  VALUE | 3.25 |
 OVERALL | 4.06 | ||
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