"For the adults in the family, a massive binder served as a roadmap to the collection, which they'd scour to find the perfect wine for supper. The harder task went to the children, who had to locate the physical bottle. "As a kid, I looked at that cellar with a combination of fear, awe and reverence," said Phelps, founder of Seppi Wines in Healdsburg. "Finding a specific wine in the matrix was like using the Dewey Decimal System to find a book at the library.""
"Much to her chagrin, she'd occasionally disrupt the sediment at the bottom of an aging bottle, raising her grandfather's blood pressure. "I had no idea how to carry an older bottle of wine, so I was probably holding it like a banana," said Phelps, laughing. "At the time, I didn't understand how special that time was. But now, it's one of my most meaningful memories." In 1973, Joseph Phelps moved to Napa Valley, where he founded Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St. Helena."
Kelsey Phelps's childhood centered around her grandfather's extensive wine cellar, an underground maze of bottles where a family binder mapped the collection and children retrieved physical bottles. Occasional mishandling disturbed bottle sediment and created memorable family moments. Joseph Phelps moved to Napa Valley in 1973 and founded Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St. Helena, transitioning from commercial construction to influential winemaking without formal industry experience. Joseph Phelps and winemaker Walter Schug launched Insignia in 1974, establishing a benchmark Cabernet Sauvignon-based Bordeaux-style blend that earned multiple 100-point scores. Summers in Napa left strong sensory impressions of grapes, oak barrels and chaparral.
Read at The Mercury News
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