Our Sweetheart Team

Dear ,

“Wine begins in the vineyard. There are many elements that combine and interact to give a wine its voice of place.”

A Taste of the World of Wine
Iland, Gago, Caillard, Dry

The merged skills of Phil Freese and Ulises Valdez (Wine Spectator, December 2007) will ensure the ongoing high quality management of the Rosati vines. Phil is celebrated for creating the formal viticulture program at Mondavi beginning in 1982- the first of its kind in the United States.

We are very pleased to share with our supporters that Phil recently joined the Rosatis as a consulting viticulturist. He and Ulises, who has been with us since 2008, together will nurture our vineyard so as to continue to improve vine performance and to allow the grapes to express their unique characteristics. It is well known that Rosati wines do not contain berries from another vineyard and we do not market them to other vintners. It is important to us to protect our specialness. Our approach to caring for the vineyard and to winemaking is a holistic one.

Phil is originally from north central Indiana. His parents were annual crop farmers. The two had met while Phil’s father was a high end, precision machinist. Farming was their dream-but not so for Phil. “My experiences with farming as a youth had two profound impacts on me. First, that I was not interested in farming; however, I did want to work in science. Second, that the love of the land does not go away, but, can have another mode of expression-such as wine growing. Working with perennial plants, like grapes, will give childhood memories a chance for expression in a new and creative way.”

In 1968 Phil finished his BS in Biochemistry at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Upon graduating, his professor asked where he planned to attend graduate school. This thought had never occurred to him. Before he knew it, he was off to warm California to study at UC Davis. This was the Viet Nam War era. Phil knew he was very lucky to attend this stellar university. Through the present, he stays involved mentoring young Davis’ students and working with the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences as well as the Department of Viticulture and Enology.

When he began his studies, he was focused on molecular biology and biophysics. While at UC Davis, he learned about wine and began auditing a few classes. After earning his Ph.D., he did postgraduate work and taught at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and UC Berkeley. In doing his research on the regulation of gene expression, he came to grips with the truth-that he loved wine and not academics.

A friend introduced him to CalPlan Vineyard Company, a large vineyard owner/manager partnership. For five years, he managed 1,200 acres of vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. Annually, this company sold grapes to more than 12 wineries that produced premium wines including sparkling, still and desert wines.

The Mondavis were vintners who purchased fruit from CalPlan. Tim Mondavi learned of the groundbreaking work that Phil had undertaken. Phil’s Ph. D. thesis work at UC Davis in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics was centered on using a soil bacteria that had the capability of adapting to drought or other hostile conditions by forming a spore. The spore is rather like a seed and is a very safe way for the bacteria to protect its DNA until better growing conditions permit it to germinate and grow. Phil was working at the molecular level of some of the mechanisms that the bacteria had developed to sense the hostile conditions and adapt its metabolism to shift it into the spore-forming mode.

Tim asked Phil several times to become a member of their winery. After the third request, Phil could not say no any longer. Tim, for Phil, was great employer. He gave Phil carte-blanche to uncover the secrets of their various vineyards and to work closely with the six winemakers then under the Mondavi roof. Tim saw that there was more to a harvest than reaching a certain sugar level before it was time to pick the berries. Tim instinctively recognized through his conversations with Phil that there was a right thing to do at the right time at the right place.

And, as is well known, Robert Mondavi was never satisfied that the work they were doing was ‘as good as it gets’. Phil saw that “Bob had an unquenchable thirst at getting to the next horizon, to getting answers.” Robert’s work extended beyond the vineyard and the winemakers themselves; he experimented with barrels, grape varieties, and fermentation techniques.

Throughout his 12 years at Mondavi, Phil worked with all of the Mondavi Corporation wineries. He oversaw the vineyards of Opus One, Oakville, Vichon, Woodbridge and Byron Vineyards.

Today, Phil and Zelma Long, his wife, consult with vintners in France, the U.S., South Africa and Israel. Together they own their own vineyard and winery in South Africa, Vilafonté. Like us, they do not buy nor sell grapes. They believe in producing wines grown at their estate; these wines are derived under their control and from their labor. Their Bordeaux blended-award winning-wines are very concentrated and focused.

May you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. We wish you joy and friendship. Perhaps a glass of our 2004 or 2005 Rosati Cabernet will accompany a festive meal shared with loved ones. Phil has provided us with a beautiful South African Leg of Lamb recipe which we know you will relish.

Warm regards,
Danelle and Mario