2021 Joseph Jewel, Humboldt County Pinot Noir "Phelps Vineyard"

A couple of years ago, having just joined the SommSelect team, I was handed a taste of wine and asked to take a stab at what it was, totally “blind” in the parlay of sommeliers. After a bit of pondering I announced confidently that it was a red Burgundy, probably Côte de Beaune, from a recent ripe vintage. Well, I got the Pinot Noir part right, but that was it. It was my first introduction to the stunningly great wines of Adrian Manspeaker and his label “Joseph Jewel,” and as today’s “Phelps Vineyard” attests, they are only getting better. You see, Humboldt County has all the natural gifts of some of California’s most celebrated coastal growing zones, indeed, if this wine said “Russian River” or “Carneros” instead it would cost two or three times as much. Humboldt may be the next frontier for great California Pinot Noir, and Adrian may be the next star winemaker in Northern California. This 2021 certainly makes a very strong case! There may be no one working harder to get Humboldt onto