Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Joseph Phelps Vineyards was founded in 1973. Joe Phelps was a successful builder in Colorado who had built up the company his father founded, Hensel Phelps Construction Company, and the firm had a contract to build the Souverain Winery before he started his own. A trip to Italy in 1970 clinched the idea, and on March 1, 1973 Joe took possession of a 600-acre cattle ranch on the east side of St. Helena with, as he put it, "Not a grape on the property." With founding winemaker Walter Schug he laid out and planted 100 acres of vineyards. The winery, designed by architect John Marsh Davis and built by Hensel Phelps Construction Company, was finished in time for the 1974 harvest. The inaugural 1973 vintage comprised three wines made at neighboring wineries: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Johannisberg Riesling.

• Souverain Winery, which Phelps's company won a bid to build, is now Rutherford Hill in St. Helena
• Joe sold Hensel Phelps Construction Company to its employees in 1986
• The Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast sites are run by full-time staff, some of whom have worked there for over 40 years

The 1974 harvest yielded two wines the winery calls highly influential. One was California's first varietally labeled Syrah; the winery credits those early Syrah experiments with wider interest in Rhône grapes like Mourvèdre, Marsanne, Grenache and Viognier. The other was Insignia, debuted in 1974, which the winery describes as California's first proprietary red Bordeaux-style blend. Joe chose the name to represent the finest lots available from each vintage and to emphasize blending over varietal designation; he came up with the name one morning while shaving. The 1974 Insignia was 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Merlot, 100% trusted grower fruit from Stelzner and Stanton Vineyards, aged twenty-four months in 100% new French oak. In the relatively cool 1977 vintage the blend was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The 2004 vintage was the first Insignia blended entirely from estate-grown fruit.

• 2022 Insignia: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec from Banca Dorada, Yountville, Las Rocas, Barboza, Suscol and Home Ranch, aged twenty-four months in 100% new French oak
• 2023 Insignia: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc from seven estate vineyards, aged twenty months in 100% new French oak
• Wine Spectator named the 2002 Insignia, made by Phelps and winemaker Craig Williams, its Wine of the Year in 2005

Joseph Phelps Vineyards owns and farms 525 acres of vines across 11 estate vineyards, in St. Helena, Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District, Oak Knoll District, South Napa, Carneros and Freestone. In Napa Valley it farms some 425 acres of vines on nine estate vineyards, among them Home Ranch, Las Rocas, Barboza, Backus, Banca Dorada, Yountville, El Venadito and Suscol. The Home Ranch in St. Helena features 130 acres of wine grapes, olive orchards and fruit trees, and Joe donated a conservation easement over most of the Home Ranch to the Land Trust of Napa County in 1999. The winery is a certified Napa Green Winery with over 480 acres under preservation.

• Vineyard placements on the 2023 Insignia tech sheet: Yountville (Oak Knoll AVA), Banca Dorada (Rutherford AVA), Las Rocas and Barboza (Stags Leap AVA), Backus (Oakville AVA), Suscol (Napa Valley AVA) and Home Ranch (St. Helena AVA); El Venadito is in the Oak Knoll AVA
• Purchased fruit still plays a role: the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon includes 21% trusted grower fruit, and 95% of the 2021 Syrah came from Larry Hyde & Sons in the Carneros AVA

In 1999 land in Freestone, just eight miles from the Pacific Ocean, was purchased for vineyards and a winemaking facility; with its Goldridge soils and rumored potential for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it was a region Joe wanted to explore. The Pastorale Vineyard, a former dairy farm, was planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 2000, and the Quarter Moon Vineyard was planted entirely to Pinot Noir in 2001. A three-story redwood and steel winery, built by Hensel Phelps Construction Company and designed so grapes and wines move by gravity, was completed in 2007. 2007 was also the first year of single-vineyard Pinot Noir from Quarter Moon and Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Pastorale.

• 2015: the winery's first sparkling wine, Ovation, made from Pastorale Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• 2018: Proem, singular block and clonal expression wines from Quarter Moon and Pastorale, introduced
• A March 9, 2026 winery post announced new Freestone labels that lead with the Freestone name, with Joseph Phelps on the back label and the full transition over the next two years; winemaker Justin Ennis continues to steward Pastorale and Quarter Moon

Joe Phelps guided the winery for three decades before stepping down as chairman in 2005, when his son Bill took over for the family. After Joe's death in 2015, Bill and his siblings managed the company. In June 2022 Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of LVMH, acquired Joseph Phelps Vineyards. David Pearson is Maison President, Ryan Knoth is Senior Director of Winemaking for Napa County and Justin Ennis is Senior Director of Winemaking for Sonoma County.

• Production was about 60,000 cases a year at the time of the 2022 sale
• Also on the team: Mitalee Gupte (Senior Director of DTC and Marketing), Julien Issenmann (Chief Financial Officer) and Bertha Rodriguez (Senior Director of Human Resources)

Alongside Insignia, the Napa Valley range features Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and the Delice dessert wine; the 2021 Delice is 100% Scheurebe from the Home Ranch. Members of Phelps Preferred get access to limited bottlings including Cabernet Sauvignon from Backus Vineyard in Oakville. The Sonoma Coast range includes Freestone Vineyards Pinot Noir, Ovation Sparkling Wine, single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Pastorale and Quarter Moon, and Proem Pinot Noir and Chardonnay highlighting singular block and clone sections.

• The winery's current tech sheets also cover Vin du Mistral and a Freestone Bootlegger's Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir
• 2023 Sauvignon Blanc: 100% Sauvignon Blanc (Sauvignon Musque clone), all estate fruit from the Home Ranch
• 2018 Ovation: 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from Pastorale and Quarter Moon, bottled June 2019 and disgorged February 2023

Joe's idea in 1974 was to make a unique blend each year representing the finest wine he could make from each vintage, not necessarily a Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine Spectator credits Phelps and his winery with helping pioneer a Napa style of ripe, rich Cabernet Sauvignon accented by Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a generous use of oak. The Rooted in Tomorrow series sets out the winery's commitment to regenerative farming.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.josephphelps.com/, https://www.josephphelps.com/story/, https://www.josephphelps.com/joe-phelps/, https://www.josephphelps.com/vineyards/, https://www.josephphelps.com/team/, https://www.josephphelps.com/visit/, https://www.josephphelps.com/rooted-in-tomorrow/, https://www.josephphelps.com/journal/reintroducing-freestone-a-return-to-our-roots/, https://www.josephphelps.com/journal/introducing-the-2022-insignia/, https://www.josephphelps.com/journal/wines-to-commemorate-50-years/, https://www.josephphelps.com/trade-media/, https://www.josephphelps.com/sale-support-asset/insignia-sales-materials/, https://www.josephphelps.com/sale-support-asset/cabernet-sauvignon-sales-materials/, https://www.josephphelps.com/sale-support-asset/other-current-wines-tech-sheets/, https://www.josephphelps.com/sale-support-asset/pinot-noir-freestone-vineyards/, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1974-JPV-Insignia.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Joseph-Phelps-2023-Insignia-Tech-Sheet.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2022-Phelps-Cabernet-Sauvignon.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2021-LHS-Syrah-1.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2021-Chard-Pastorale.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2021-PN-QM.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2023-Sauvignon-Blanc.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2021-Delice.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2018-Sparkling-Ovation.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1977-JPV-Insignia.pdf, https://www.josephphelps.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2004-JPV-Insignia.pdf. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/moet-hennessy-buys-napas-joseph-phelps-vineyards, https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2022/06/29/wine-spirits-division-of-luxury-goods-giant-lvmh-scoops-up-iconic-joseph-phelps-vineyard/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/joseph-phelps-pioneering-california-wine-producer-dies-at-87-51483. Last verified 2026-10-12.