Creators Syndicate
Some winemakers live the dream. Then there is Chris Phelps, whose path to an exalted position in the Napa Valley has the ring of a fairytale.
Winemaker at Swanson Vineyards in the Napa Valley the past dozen years, Phelps is now a quarter-century into a journey that began when he graduated the University of California at Davis with a degree in enology.
He also took classes in French throughout his undergrad years and yearned to visit Bordeaux. He had an opportunity to spend a year at the University at Bordeaux to further his winemaking studies and embraced it.
“I took French language classes throughout college and loved it,” he remembers. “It was a great opportunity to practice my speaking skills. That was the 1982 vintage. After studying at the University of Bordeaux, I decided to stay for harvest.”
Phelps applied for an internship with Chateau Petrus, the fabled estate of Christian Moueix in Pomerol. Though he was initially awarded the internship, his response arrived too late and he was passed over for someone else.
Instead of an internship, Phelps was so highly regarded by the Moueix team he was offered the job as winemaker at a chateau Moueix owned in Puisseguin, a satellite appellation of Saint-Emilion.
“It was incredible to be able to be a (full-time) winemaker so fast after college,” Phelps said.
The fairy tale didn’t end there. Moueix had plans to open a new winery in the Napa Valley in 1983 and asked Phelps to be the winemaker.
“At first I turned it down,” Phelps remembered. “It wasn’t enough money, not to live in the Napa Valley.”
Moueix made an adjustment in the compensation and the rest is history. Phelps and Moueix launched Dominus together and Phelps stayed at Dominus for 12 years before moving up the road to Swanson, essentially to oversee one of the Napa Valley’s finest Merlot programs.
“It was all about the Merlot,” said Phelps. “The entire (Swanson) estate vineyard is clay loam.”
Clay, of course, is the soil that dictates the planting of Merlot in Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, where Cabernet Sauvignon rarely ripens. When the estate vineyard was planted, the late great enologist Andre Tchelistcheff advised against planting Cabernet on the site, so Swanson went all-in on Merlot. For more than two decades it has been among the finest Merlots produced in the Napa Valley, though when Phelps came on board he worked to craft a more structured Merlot that would be as age-worthy as Napa Valley Cabs.
He also altered the estate’s proprietary blend, Alexis, eliminating Syrah from the blend and making it a true Bordeaux-style blend.
“I felt Syrah overwhelmed the Alexis flavor profile,” Phelps explained.
Now, after 25 years, the fairytale winemaking journey continues. Phelps will cut back at Swanson (he says to 50 percent) and move into more of a supporting role as he launches a new business as a consultant.
“I can’t reveal some of the names of wineries I will be working with, but I can tell you I will be working on a project with Banfi (famous Italian producer from Montalcino) in Eastern Washington,” he said.
And so the stars continue to align for this talented fairytale winemaker.
8