U.S.A.

Ben Greene

At a small farm on the San Luis Obispo coast, Rajat Parr - star sommelier, wine writer, winemaker and consultant - is drawing on a lifetime’s experience for his boldest venture yet. With a focus on top quality, regenerative farming and simple winemaking, Phelan Farm is artisanal Californian wine at its best.The Phelan family homestead was founded in 1851 on Steiner Creek, a few miles from the Pacific coast. In 2007, Greg Phelan planted four small vineyards of own-rooted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir: Phoenix, Jensen, Silva, and Devin. Many of these vines remain, but Rajat has added other varieties suited to the cool microclimate, including Savagnin, Gamay, Mencia, Trousseau, Mondeuse, and Poulsard. This diversification is part of a bespoke farming programme designed to promote the health of the soil and the wider ecosystem. In a blend of philosophies including permaculture and biodynamics, the soil is not tilled and no chemicals are used. Instead, chickens and sheep roam the vines to keep the weeds down, and homemade treatments derived from native plants are applied. All the wines are fermented with wild yeasts, aged in old oak, and bottled unfined and unfiltered with no added sulphur.Rajat Parr has been a partner in many celebrated U.S. wine labels, but at Phelan Farm he controls everything from vine to bottle. It’s an opportunity to put all the wisdom he’s accumulated into practice, and the wines are brilliantly accomplished. Combining clarity and complexity, they are essential drinking for fans of California’s artisanal wine scene.&nbsp;

Phelan Farm

Wines

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