Joe Phelps spent many years searching for an appropriate vineyard site to plant both varietals, and in 1999, along with his family and management team, purchased approximately 100 acres on the Sonoma Coast near Freestone, California.

In 1999 Joe, his son Bill, Craig Williams and Tom Shelton, began developing 80 acres of Pinot Noir and 20 acres of Chardonnay on 3 separate sites, Freestone, Quarter Moon and Ferguson. Craig is Director of Winemaking for the project.

In the fall of 2005 the team broke ground for the winery building, which, despite a record-breaking 95 inches of rain during the winter of 2005-2006, was completed in time for the 2007 harvest. It was especially fitting that Hensel Phelps Construction Company, headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, was the general contractor for the project, as Hensel was Joe’s father and founded the company in 1937. Joe ran HPCC for many years before embarking on a second career as a vintner in the early 70’s and building Joseph Phelps Vineyards.