RH Phillips Syrah 1999

In 1973 Karl and John Giguiere (along with John's wife Lane) went home to the Dunnigan Hills farm they grew up on to settle down to the idyll life on the family wheat and sheep operation. The charm of being shepherds quickly wore off when the three discovered that sheep use almost zero percent of their brains. The sheep were fired. In 1981, they planted 10 acres of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc; in 1983, they started their own winery. Naming their new venture after the brothers' maternal grandfather, they launched R.H. Phillips with 4,000 cases of wine. They sold every drop. Next year they sold 40,000 cases; the year after that, they sold 150,000 cases. Today, R.H. Phillips has 1600 acres of grapes on the property, and produces over 400,000 cases of wine.