Tag Archives: Jean Grivot

60 Second Wine Review — Joseph Phelps Quarter Moon Pinot noir

A few quick thoughts on the 2012 Joseph Phelps Pinot noir from the Quarter Moon Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA.

The Geekery

Joseph Phelps Pinot noir wine

Joseph Phelps founded his namesake winery in 1973 in the Napa Valley. While most noted for their flagship Bordeaux-style blend, Insignia, a Pinot noir sourced from the Carneros region of Napa was also part of that inaugural vintage.

The winery would continue to produce a Napa Pinot until 1983. In the mid-1990s Joe Phelps became intrigued at the potential to make Burgundian-style Pinot noir and Chardonnay in the cool, ocean-influenced Sonoma Coast. After spending many years searching for vineyard sites, in 1999 the winery purchased land that would become their Freestone Estate.

Since 2009, Joseph Phelps has been producing 100% estate grown wines from their 490 acres of sustainably grown vines in Napa and Sonoma.

While Ashley Hepworth produces the Napa Valley wines, Justin Ennis oversees the Sonoma Freestone production.

Around 2080 cases of the 2012 Quarter Moon was produced.

The Wine

Photo by Veganlover1993. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Really dig the savory black tea notes in this Pinot.

Medium-plus intensity nose. A mix of red fruits–cherries and raspberries–with an earthy black tea element. With air, some baking spices like clove and allspice come out.

On the palate, those red fruits carry through and are very juicy with medium-plus acidity. The acidity also amplifies those savory black tea and spice components. Ripe medium tannins hold up the medium-bodied fruit well. The moderate oak becomes more noticeable with a creamy vanilla mouthfeel. The long finish ends on the salivating acidity and spice notes.

The Verdict

Compared to the very ripe and luscious California Pinots that you usually see in the $70-75 price range, this Joseph Phelps Quarter Moon certainly delivers a lot of Burgundian complexity.

For the equivalent price in Burgundy, you’re looking at well-regarded village-level wines like a Grivot Vosne-Romanee or Hubert Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis as peers. While you can  get a little bit better value in Oregon at the $45-60 mark, this is still a very well made wine.

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Geek Notes — Killer Clos Vougeot Map

Burgundy geeks!

For full map go to http://thevinofiles.typepad.com/the_vino_files/files/clos_de_vougeot.jpg

Just a tiny segment of the map showing most of “Cuvée du Pape” area around the Chateau du Clos de Vougeot

You have to check out this high quality (and downloadable) map of the Grand Cru Clos Vougeot over at The Vino Files.

I literally squealed when I came across this map while watching this interesting and well put together Youtube video essay on Clos de Vougeot by Antonio Ferrel.

While usually one of the most affordable and accessible Grand Crus, Clos Vougeot is saddled with the reputation of being highly variable due to its vast size (125 acres) and multiple bottlings being produced by 80+ growers. The tried and true advice to buy Burgundy based on producer, rather than necessarily terroir, is always the best approach. The video I linked to above by Antonio Ferrel names some top Clos Vougeot producers.

But what’s exciting about this map is that we can apply some historical context behind the terroir that the great producers of Clos Vougeot have. No one knew this land better than the Cistercian monks who planted and farmed the vineyard for almost 700 years. Carefully observing the vines and the wine produced from them, they subdivided the large Clos into essentially 3 bands or climats.

As Decanter noted in a 2011 article about the Grand Cru:

The top of the Clos (bordering the grand cru Grand-Echézeaux) is the best land – pebbly, oolitic limestone. The exceptional terroir was identified by the monks, who used it for their top wine: the Cuvée du Papes. Halfway down the slope, the soil is a mix of limestone and clay; the monks used this for their mid-level Cuvée du Roi. Further down still, the soil becomes more alluvial and drains less well – the plots left for the monks’ basic Cuvée des Moines.

By Christophe.Finot - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, from Wikimedia commons

One of the entrances to the walled Grand Cru of Clos Vougeot


This top Cuvée du Pape area includes the vineyards surrounding Château du Clos de Vougeot in what is essentially the top right hand corner of the map linked above.

Here we find such famous names as the Gros family, Meo-Camuzet and Hudelot-Noëllat. Seeing the favorable location of their terroir on the map makes it is no wonder why these producers regularly produce some of the most highly regarded examples of Clos Vougeot.

Studying the map, you find more recognizable names even in the less heralded Cuvée des Moines band of climats going downslope towards the RN74 auto-route. Seeing such esteemed names like Domaine Jacques Prieur, Domaine Jean Grivot and Louis Jadot reiterates the truism that great producers will still make quality wine even with less favorable terroir.

So have fun geeking out and exploring the terroir of the Clos Vougeot Grand Cru!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that The Vino File site is still active (and the tip jar link on the site seems to have been removed). However, I still want to tip my hat to them for providing this fantastic resource for Burgundy wine lovers.

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