Description
Phelan Farm, “Autrement” Red
Today’s bottle is a wine lover’s wildest dream come to life. What happens when one of the world’s greatest wine minds takes over a stunning vineyard atop a singular terroir, plants unique varieties, and crafts the resulting wines in the most natural and transparent fashion possible? Phelan Farm’s “Autrement” Red is the soulful, juicy, spectacularly pure answer!
Farmed and fermented by none other than Rajat Parr, easily one of the most reputable sommeliers of all time—and a winemaking force of nature—this bottle sits at the extreme bleeding edge of American viticulture and vinification. Inspired by the Savoie, this harmonious fusion of Pinot, Mondeuse, and Gamay is loaded with crunchy purple-blue fruits, Alpine herbs, and a mineral freshness belying its extreme coastal origins. And while it’s a blend unlike any we’ve seen in the Golden State, after one sip of “Autrement” it’s clear this ranks with the very best of California’s new school. Raj’s Phelan Farm may just be the most exciting project in California wine right now, and we couldn’t ask for a more delicious step into our home state’s electrifying frontier. But a project as passion-fueled and artisanal as Phelan Farm necessarily means quantities are limited, so act fast if you plan on joining us on this journey!
For most wine aficionados, Raj Parr needs little introduction. There’s practically no corner of American wine—be it importing, selling, or winemaking—that Raj hasn’t influenced. He’s run the beverage programs at, or outright owned, some of the most important wine-focused restaurants in the country, like Michael Mina and RN74. He helped steer California winemaking back toward elegance and restraint with his Sandhi and Domaine de la Côte labels, and established the Willamette Valley as a Chardonnay hotspot with Evening Land. For decades now, he’s tirelessly promoted the wines and winemakers who move him, be they living legends like Jean-Louis Chave or quiet natural wine artisans like the Savoie’s Dominic Belluard. He is, to put it simply, America’s greatest wine ambassador, and Phelan Farm represents the full flowering of a lifetime dedicated to all things vinous.
Only someone as passionate, as talented, as Raj could make a project as wildly ambitious as Phelan Farm work. The Phelan family has farmed this land, about three miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and underlain with volcanic soil, since the 1850s. In 2007, Greg Phelan planted own-rooted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Raj met the Phelans 10 years later and was instantly struck by the beauty and singularity of their site. It was the perfect place to enact his vision of a radically sustainable vineyard. As of this year, they are now within the newly branded San Luis Obispo Coast AVA.
Raj farms the vineyards in a fully regenerative fashion, going far beyond organics or biodynamics. He never tills the soil, allowing native ground cover and a biennial cover crop to feed the soil nutrients. He doesn’t spray either copper or sulfur, both common but potentially harmful antifungal sprays, and instead relies entirely on holistic teas and ferments. The ingredients for the teas are even grown on-site, or if purchase is necessary, from very close by. To increase plant diversity, Raj grafted over portions of the vineyard to cool-climate European varieties like Trousseau and Savagnin from the Jura, Jacquère and Altesse from the Savoie, and Mencía from Ribeira Sacra. He’s even planted apple trees from ancient cider varieties for good measure, and maintains a flock of sheep to naturally “mow” the vineyard grasses. Once the fruit arrives in the cellar, winemaking proceeds in as simple and natural a manner as possible. Everything is fermented spontaneously, aged in neutral wood, and bottled without any added sulfur. In short, it’s a vineyard and winery totally unique in the US, if not the world.
So there’s little wonder that a place as beautiful as Phelan results in a wine as beautiful as “Autrement.” Inspired by the cuvée of the same name by now-retired Savoie legend Jacques Maillet, the 2021 is a nearly equal split between Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Mondeuse. It represents truly next-level natural winemaking: exuberant and pure thanks to its zero-sulfur regiment, yet without a single flaw. It pours a limpid ruby and explodes from the glass with Morello cherry, rose petals, blueberry, red plum flesh, crushed black raspberries, orange zest, white pepper, wet rock, fennel seed, and a sanguine minerality. The palate is deep and fruit-loaded, but with incredible freshness and moderate tannin, leaning into darker fruits before wicking away with a zap of Mondeuse smokiness. It’s hard to express just how wonderfully refreshing and invigorating this feels to drink. This is the first vintage of this wine, and after one sip, we think you’ll agree the future of California winemaking looks very bright indeed.
