Query: Joseph Phelps 1989 Late Harvest Scheurebe?

S

Steve Guattery

Steve Guattery
I went to a dinner party recently. After the meal our host pulled out a bottle of Joseph Phelps 1989 Special Select Late Harvest Scheurebe and asked me if I thought we should open it. The other guests were not people particularly interested in wine, so in spite of my curiosity I told her to save it for a better opportunity. She has cellared the bottle since it was bought on release at the winery, but hasn't tried it in several years. She was curious about what I knew about the wine (nothing), so I told her I'd ask if anybody can provide information about Phelps and Scheurebe and how the 1989 is doing these days. It's listed at 8,8% alcohol with 20.2% rs, by the way.

I was a little surprised by one of the wines served at dinner: the Rochioli 2000 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley (yes, I'll admit to having biases). While it definitely showed darker, riper fruit, it had clear Pinot Noir character, lively acidity, and had developed some nice, earthy nuances that made it enjoyable. It's more drink, less hold at the moment.
 
originally posted by Steve Guattery:
Query: Joseph Phelps 1989 Late Harvest Scheurebe?I went to a dinner party recently. After the meal our host pulled out a bottle of Joseph Phelps 1989 Special Select Late Harvest Scheurebe and asked me if I thought we should open it. The other guests were not people particularly interested in wine, so in spite of my curiosity I told her to save it for a better opportunity. She has cellared the bottle since it was bought on release at the winery, but hasn't tried it in several years. She was curious about what I knew about the wine (nothing), so I told her I'd ask if anybody can provide information about Phelps and Scheurebe and how the 1989 is doing these days. It's listed at 8,8% alcohol with 20.2% rs, by the way.

I was a little surprised by one of the wines served at dinner: the Rochioli 2000 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley (yes, I'll admit to having biases). While it definitely showed darker, riper fruit, it had clear Pinot Noir character, lively acidity, and had developed some nice, earthy nuances that made it enjoyable. It's more drink, less hold at the moment.
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Steve,
The closest I've had is the 1996 Joseph Phelps Eisrbe Ice Wine, also Scheurebe. A half bottle in 2003 was sweet and not complex. It was lower in acid than you'd expect from an Eiswein. I have another 1/2 bottle I've put aside for a future cull party, in the unlikely event that it has improved rather than declined.
Charles
 
originally posted by Steve Guattery:
Query: Joseph Phelps 1989 Late Harvest Scheurebe?I went to a dinner party recently. After the meal our host pulled out a bottle of Joseph Phelps 1989 Special Select Late Harvest Scheurebe and asked me if I thought we should open it. The other guests were not people particularly interested in wine, so in spite of my curiosity I told her to save it for a better opportunity. She has cellared the bottle since it was bought on release at the winery, but hasn't tried it in several years. She was curious about what I knew about the wine (nothing), so I told her I'd ask if anybody can provide information about Phelps and Scheurebe and how the 1989 is doing these days. It's listed at 8,8% alcohol with 20.2% rs, by the way.
Click to expand...
I haven't had one of the Phelps LH wines in a quite a while. Generally speaking, the late harvest BA-style California wines of the late 70s and 80s did not age as well as hoped. Based on past precedent, I'd guess it would be lush, sweet, fairly simple, rather tired and oxidized, maybe with a pleasant tea-like bitter note. That said, I would open this kind of wine for people who aren't seriously into wine. The sweetness gives it appeal for most people and even non-geeks are usually fascinated to have something unusual and old.
 
Charles and Christian,

Thanks for the information. It does sound like something to open for folks who aren't too geeky.

And Arjun, yeah, that's 202 g/L of sugar. Sweet in the extreme, especially if the acidity isn't there.
 
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