Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc 2014

Professional Ratings

• 92 Wine & Spirits
  Philippe Pessereau grows the fruit for this wine at Phelps’s home ranch in St. Helena; Ashley Hepworth barrel ferments it without added yeast, then ages the wine in French oak puncheons (31 percent new). While that oak plays a leading role in the structure and flavors, it is less dominant than in recent vintages. With air, the wine’s yellow-apple flavor and floral notes break through the oak barrier and begin to shimmer, lasting on an elegant, lean line of fruit. Built to age for several years and to serve with roast veal.
• 92 Wine Enthusiast
  Made entirely from estate fruit, and given time to settle in French oak puncheons, only a third of them new, this dry and complex white is easily quaffable and yet so much more. Citrus peel and dried herb complement on the nose and palate, with a lightness of being that never veers on frivolous.
• 90 Wine Spectator
  The peach, nectarine and melon flavors have a terrific intensity, with toasted spice and green tea accents. A note of guava emerges on the succulent finish.