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WINERY FEATURE | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKJOSEPH PHELPS VINEYARDSPioneering Spirit – Fun and Educational Seminarsby Michelle J. BakerJoe Phelps has always been anintrepid trailblazer. As the chairman ofHensel Phelps, the constructioncompany his father founded in 1937,he was a pioneer in corporateemployee relations who early onrecognized that he could recruit thebest people by offering them employeeownership. In his second career asfounder of Napa Valley’s esteemedJoseph Phelps Vineyards, Joe Phelpshas blazed a trail on two importantgood citizen fronts: farmworkerhousing and land conservation.In 2002, Joe Phelps came to therescue in Napa Valley’s farmworker housing crisis by donating aneight-acre parcel of land on Silverado Trail. Napa Valley vineyard andwinery owners have long been dependent on migrant workers forlabor in spring and fall; in the spring workers must prune vines toprepare them for a successful growing season, and in fall they areneeded to hand harvest the grapes. For as much as Napa Valley vintnersrely on farmworker labor, there had always been a severeshortage of housing available for these workers.Now thanks to Joe Phelps, River Ranch Farmworker Centerprovides housing for 60 seasonal farmworkers. Along with two otherfarmworker centers in Napa Valley, River Ranch provides residentswith two meals per day and a baggedlunch-to-go, dormitory-style accommodations,and other comforts of home fora small daily fee.Phelps also donated 480 acres of thewinery’s Spring Valley Ranch to the NapaLand Trust as a “conservation easement”in 1998. This land is now permanentlyprotected from future development, withhalf of the acres designated “forever wild”so it cannot be turned into vineyards orharvested for wood.Today, the winery’s Chairman EmeritusJoe Phelps and his staff take as muchpride in good citizenship on the winery’s124 acres of vineyards on the SpringValley Ranch in St. Helena. The winerystarted to embrace sustainable vineyard practices in the early 1980s,and now approximately 85% of the estate vineyards are Biodynamically® farmed.Visitors to the winery can often see the Biodynamic farming inaction, from the Biodynamic compost piles to the sheep grazing oncover crops, and from the mobile chicken coops to the diversity ofbirds and other wildlife on the property. The winery has a beautifuldeck overlooking the vineyards, and visitors who opt for the TerraceTasting can enjoy these exquisite, elegant wines while taking in theincredible view.The hospitality team at Joseph Phelps Vineyards has expanded the20 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com