Joseph Phelps
Freestone, Pinot Noir, 2018
3rd Corner Wine Club Member $38.24
Best Price On-line $44.94
96 Points Wine Enthusiast
Joseph Phelps is better known for its Cabernet based wines such as Insignia and Backus. In recent years, their Freestone Pinot has reached the top tier benchmark when it comes to their portfolio of red wines. This latest release has all the promise of a great Pinot Noir from such wineries as Siduri, Ken Wright, Littorai, Kistler to name a few. As Pinots go this is a big structured wine with lots of power, balance and longevity. The fruit comes screaming out with a mouthful of sweet tarts acidity that makes you happy on the tongue. The mouthfeel is intense with layer after layer of flavor coming thru that takes a little effort to fully enjoy. In other words there is a lot going on here. One of the dominant features of this wine is it's age-ability. I can easily see this wine getting much better for another 15 to 25 years in the cellar. For those of you with a temperature controlled cellar this is a wine to lay down. My cellar has many Pinot Noirs from the 03, 04 & 05 vintage and they are drinking so good right now.
Now I know that most of you want wine to drink today and I get that. This wine drinks great now but it will get measurably better with a few years of bottle aging. Patience makes Pinot Noir taste better.
WINEMAKER NOTES
The 2018 Pinot Noir highlights fragrant violet, rustic baking spices and cedar notes followed by juicy raspberry, black cherry and hints of red currant. Focused and youthful with a lifting acid length, black pepper spice and orange peel essence.
WINEMAKING DATA
Harvest takes place at night followed by sorting before the fruit is gravity fed to tank for a long natural fermentation using an overall average of 16% whole clusters in the final blend. Regular punch downs result in a structured wine with silky texture and a distinctive Freestone spice character of boysenberry, forest floor and clove prevalent in this area of the western Sonoma Coast.
VINTAGE NOTES
The 2018 Sonoma Coast growing season was marked by cool, mild weather. The cooler than normal spring delayed budbreak, bloom and veraison by two weeks compared to the previous five years. The mild weather patterns in August and September allowed for excellent overall phenological ripening and development of a complex aroma and flavor profile in the finished wines.
