Alcohol: 12.8 %
Grape(s): 60 % Pinot Noir, 30 % Gamay, 10 % Mondeuse (field-blend, interplanted and co-fermented)
Location: San Luis Obispo (SLO) Coast AVA, California, USA
Tasting Notes: Translucent ruby with a glint of violet. High-toned aromas of wild strawberry, tart cherry, rhubarb, and rose petal weave with white pepper, sagebrush, and a salty sea breeze. Juicy, light-bodied palate driven by crunchy red fruit, cranberry, and blood orange; lively acidity and fine, chalk-dust tannins give lift. Ends with a lingering echo of pomegranate and coastal garrigue.
Notes: From a north-facing, limestone-rich parcel barely four miles from the Pacific. Hand-picked at dawn, whole clusters placed intact into a concrete tank; spontaneous carbonic-friendly fermentation for 10 days, then gently pressed to neutral French oak puncheons. Nine months élevage on gross lees; bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with <25 ppm total SO₂. No additives, no filtration—just “autrement” (another way) of expressing a maritime red.
Food pairing: Charcuterie, duck confit with cherry glaze, mushroom risotto, tuna tataki, or a simple Margherita pizza. Serve with a light chill for maximum refreshment.
Winery Story:
Phelan Farm is the brainchild of Rajat Parr, sommelier-turned-vigneron, who envisioned a living laboratory for regenerative viticulture on California’s fog-shrouded Central Coast. Once a dairy, the 12-hectare ranch was replanted between 2018–2020 to a patchwork of mass-selection cuttings gathered from heritage vineyards in Burgundy, the Jura, and Savoie—grafted not in tidy rows but as polycultures that mimic historic European field blends.
Farming is resolutely biodynamic: compost teas brewed on site, sheep and chickens for weed and pest control, and cover crops that fix nitrogen while preventing erosion on the steep, chalky slopes. Irrigation is eschewed; the vines rely on coastal mists and deep root systems to survive California’s arid summers.
In the cellar—an old barn retrofitted for gravity flow—Rajat and his small team practice “infusion” rather than extraction: whole bunches, ambient yeasts, zero temperature control, and minimal punch-downs. Vessels range from concrete tulips to seasoned 500-L puncheons, each chosen to respect the delicacy of the fruit. Autrement Rouge represents the farm’s ethos of experimentation—embracing lesser-seen varieties like Gamay and Mondeuse alongside Pinot Noir to craft a vibrant, low-alcohol red that channels the vineyard’s proximity to the Pacific. Annual production hovers around 400 cases, allocated almost entirely to a fervent mailing-list following and a handful of forward-thinking restaurants championing California’s new wave
