06 May Phelps Vineyard: Remote, Challenging, Worth It.
A Hidden Humboldt Gem One of the things I like about growing and making wines from Humboldt is the “undiscovered” aspect. Humboldt County remains a small and largely unexplored wine region. There are only a handful of vineyards, but the possibilities for making great wines are there if you are willing to look for them. My first sojourn to Phelps Vineyard was in 2019, when the owner of Briceland Vineyards brought me there (it’s not exactly a place you could stumble upon). For me, the trip to Phelps Vineyard started with the three-hour drive from my home in Sebastopol to Garberville, followed by another 45-minute drive on a dirt road that climbs from roughly 300 feet to close to 2,500, getting steeper and narrower as it goes. Technically, it’s about four miles...