Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc - $24.95

Wine Details

Vintage: 2010
Price: $24.95
Producer: Joseph Phelps Vineyards
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: citrus, lemon, licorice, mint, oak, spice, spicy
  • White Wine
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Product Description

  • The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc has delicate aromas of grapefruit, oily citrus peel, and bergamot underscored by an enticing perfumy linalool scent. Concentrated minerality completes the fresh, balanced, crisp flavors that this wine offers.

Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
Tanzer - 88 Details: ($30) Pale, bright color. Lively aromas of lemon peel, licorice and mint, with a hint of vanillin oak. Dense but spicy, with juicy flavors of citrus and spice. Finishes dry and persistent, but with some oak and a bit of alcoholic warmth showing. 2005 Tanzer citrus, lemon, licorice, mint, oak, spice, spicy
CGCW - 88 Details: Incisive aromas of melons, citrus and lightly-laid on grass lead the way here, and, if a touch rounder and slightly more viscous in feel than it is spry and lively, this nicely filled offering scores good points for richness and weight. It will stand up to flavorful seafoods or chicken, and its slight leaning to softness makes it approachable now. 2005 CGCW citrus, grass
WineSpectator - 87 Details: Peach, apricot and citrus notes have good intensity and are joined by pebble and mineral flavors. The finish veers toward almond and tangerine flavors, with a juicy acidity that makes this fun to drink. Drink now. 3,000 cases made. – 2005 WineSpectator grapefruit, lemon, melon
Tanzer - 87 Details: ($24) Melon and hints of exotic fruit on the nose, along with leesy nuances and barrel notes of resin and vanilla. Offers a fairly intense flavor of candied pineapple. Finishes with good length but a bit of heat. 2004 Tanzer candied, melon, pineapple, resin, vanilla
WineEnthusiast - 92 Details: This is dynamite Sauvignon Blanc. It’s strongly flavored in citrus, fig, melon and vanilla flavors, with a fresh cut of green grass and compelling acidity, and is also dramatically tense and vibrant. Accomplishes that balancing act that most of the competition cannot. 2003 WineEnthusiast herbal
Tanzer - 88 Details: ($22) Subdued but rather exotic nose hints at honey, apricot and smoke. Supple, round and easygoing, with nicely concentrated flavors of lemon, toast and nuts. A harmonious wine with moderate cut but a firm finish. In the style of a white Bordeaux 2003 Tanzer citrus, grass, melon, vanilla
WineSpectator - 84 Details: Honeysuckle, overripe fig and yellow apple flavors have good concentration and a hint of vanilla in the finish. Drink now. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 2,000 cases made. (JL) 2003 WineSpectator apple, honeysuckle, vanilla
CGCW - 89 Details: Much like its forerunner, this is a Sauvignon Blanc that favors fruit over herbs, but, while it sports a distinct streak of melons and pears, it is not wholly devoid of a touch of varietal weeds. Sweetened ever so slightly by just the right dollop of oak, it is more mannerly than massive and its ongoing freshness suggests that it will hold up with age. 2003 CGCW
CGCW - 87 Details: Eschewing evident herbs in favor of fresh pears, melons and a touch of Meyer lemon sweetness in both aromas and taste, this medium-deep young wine conveys a good sense of fruit from beginning to end. Its bent to acidity brings both freshness and the potential for age, and it promises to expand over the next one to two years. 2002 CGCW grass
WineSpectator - 87 Details: Tart, with good depth to lemon, green apple, grass and quince tones that stay focused through a lively finish. Drink now. 6,000 cases made. – 2001 WineSpectator
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Desserts Coffee Cake, Cheesecake, Crepes, Crepes Suzette, Ginger-flavored, Vanilla Ice Cream
Fruits & Nuts Cherries

Wine Terms

Name Value
Napa This tiny strip of land just north of San Francisco is home to America’s most prestigious wineries. Its climate is ideal for viticulture. Ironically, it was deemed too ideal for some vintners, who have moved their vineyards from the valley’s flat plain to the hills in the east and west, adhering to the idea that grapes that struggle to grow yield better wine. The climate, soil, and individual wineries are enormously varied, so it’s impossible to identify a singular trait of Napa wines. In addition, nearly every noble grape is grown here, although Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the primary grapes. In the past, Napa’s wines have alternated between extremely fruity and fat to lean and subtle. Today the best Napa wines have achieved a balance between these extremes. Many are made to be drunk young and have abundant ripe fruit; others can be initially hard and tannic, but soften over four or five years to perfumed, cedary fruit. White Napa wines are excellent with fresh-grilled fish and chicken, but can also cope with more spicy and creamy flavors. Many Napa reds will overwhelm delicate cuisine, but rich red meat and cheeses do make good companions.
Sauvignon Blanc Comes mostly from California, France, New Zealand, and South Africa. Its highly acidic wines are often suggestive of herbs or grass. Light to medium bodied and usually dry, European versions are generally not oaky while California Sauvignon Blanc can take on many of the qualities of Chardonnay. France has two classic wine regions for the Sauvignon Blanc gape: Bordeaux and the Loire Valley The Bordeaux wine is called Bordeaux Blanc and the two best known of the Loire wines are called Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé. In Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc is sometimes blended with Sémillon.
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.
Napa County Napa County is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. At the north end of Napa County is the Bay Area's second tallest peak Mount Saint Helena, and to the far south of Napa County lays the section of the Napa Valley that bleeds into Carneros. When the first white settlers arrived in the early 1830s, there were six tribes in the valley speaking different dialects and they were often at war with each other. The Mayacomos tribe lived in the area where Calistoga was founded. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Napa Valley is widely considered one of the top wine regions in California and all of the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Today Napa Valley features more than two hundred wineries and grows many different grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel. The region is visited by as many as five million people each year, making it the second to Disneyland as the most popular tourist destination in California.

Tasting Notes

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