2.18.26 Phelan Farm Tasting with Raj Parr
We couldn't be more excited to bring one of the legends of the sommelier world—and one of today's leading natural wine producers in California—to Compline Wine Shop. I remember reverently reading Raj Parr's "Secrets of the Sommeliers" when I was learning my trade, and admiring the wine program he built at San Francisco's RN74.
I can't wait to welcome him to Compline Wine Shop to show off the wines of Phelan Farm!
-Matt
Phelan Farm - in Raj's words
On the far edge of Cambria, where the Pacific wind cuts through cypress and pine, Phelan Farm sits in a landscape that doesn’t give anything freely. The slopes are steep, the air stays cool, and the vines learn to adapt through pressure, scarcity, and time. At Phelan Farm, the work begins not with ambition, but with place. Cambria’s coastal fringe is rugged country — windswept, exposed, carved from ancient seabed. Vines don’t simply grow here; they adjust. They push down through fractured shale and calcareous clay to find what they need. That struggle isn’t something to overcome. It’s where the character begins. It’s 33 acres of vines. No irrigation. No chemicals. No shortcuts. Water arrives only when the season brings it: winter rain, fog, morning dew. The vines respond by digging deeper into the geology that still carries the memory of the ocean.
Our farming is regenerative by both design and necessity. Sheep move through the vineyard, grazing and fertilizing in the simplest, oldest rhythm. Cover crops rise and return with the seasons, building life in the soil. The goal is always the same: leave the land more alive than we found it. To farm this way is to pay attention. We read the soil. We watch the weather. We follow the cues of the coastal ecosystem. The vineyard tells us what it needs — and our job is to listen. Among these coastal blocks, we focus on the varieties of Jura and Savoie — grapes with natural tension and lift, varieties that speak honestly in a place defined by cool air, marine influence, and fractured stone.
In the cellar, restraint continues. Fermentations rely on native yeasts. Nothing is added — no adjustments, no corrections. Vessels are neutral. Extraction stays gentle. We don’t shape the wines beyond what the vineyard offers. We let this coastline express itself: the maritime tension, the herbal edge of the hills, the minerality that rises from ancient ground. Bottling is done by hand, without fining or filtration, keeping the texture and life of the wine intact.
Wine, here, isn’t manufactured — it’s revealed. Not perfected, but expressed. Not polished, but honest. Phelan Farm isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s built on humility — following nature instead of managing it, honoring the land instead of controlling it. True character comes from patience, difficulty, and time. It’s a practice. A devotion to soil, to life, and to authenticity in every bottle.
Time: 6:30-8pm
Format: Seated tasting
We do not send physical or digital tickets. Please give your name at the door to redeem your spot.
We couldn't be more excited to bring one of the legends of the sommelier world—and one of today's leading natural wine producers in California—to Compline Wine Shop. I remember reverently reading Raj Parr's "Secrets of the Sommeliers" when I was learning my trade, and admiring the wine program he built at San Francisco's RN74.
I can't wait to welcome him to Compline Wine Shop to show off the wines of Phelan Farm!
-Matt
Phelan Farm - in Raj's words
On the far edge of Cambria, where the Pacific wind cuts through cypress and pine, Phelan Farm sits in a landscape that doesn’t give anything freely. The slopes are steep, the air stays cool, and the vines learn to adapt through pressure, scarcity, and time. At Phelan Farm, the work begins not with ambition, but with place. Cambria’s coastal fringe is rugged country — windswept, exposed, carved from ancient seabed. Vines don’t simply grow here; they adjust. They push down through fractured shale and calcareous clay to find what they need. That struggle isn’t something to overcome. It’s where the character begins. It’s 33 acres of vines. No irrigation. No chemicals. No shortcuts. Water arrives only when the season brings it: winter rain, fog, morning dew. The vines respond by digging deeper into the geology that still carries the memory of the ocean.
Our farming is regenerative by both design and necessity. Sheep move through the vineyard, grazing and fertilizing in the simplest, oldest rhythm. Cover crops rise and return with the seasons, building life in the soil. The goal is always the same: leave the land more alive than we found it. To farm this way is to pay attention. We read the soil. We watch the weather. We follow the cues of the coastal ecosystem. The vineyard tells us what it needs — and our job is to listen. Among these coastal blocks, we focus on the varieties of Jura and Savoie — grapes with natural tension and lift, varieties that speak honestly in a place defined by cool air, marine influence, and fractured stone.
In the cellar, restraint continues. Fermentations rely on native yeasts. Nothing is added — no adjustments, no corrections. Vessels are neutral. Extraction stays gentle. We don’t shape the wines beyond what the vineyard offers. We let this coastline express itself: the maritime tension, the herbal edge of the hills, the minerality that rises from ancient ground. Bottling is done by hand, without fining or filtration, keeping the texture and life of the wine intact.
Wine, here, isn’t manufactured — it’s revealed. Not perfected, but expressed. Not polished, but honest. Phelan Farm isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s built on humility — following nature instead of managing it, honoring the land instead of controlling it. True character comes from patience, difficulty, and time. It’s a practice. A devotion to soil, to life, and to authenticity in every bottle.
Time: 6:30-8pm
Format: Seated tasting
We do not send physical or digital tickets. Please give your name at the door to redeem your spot.
We couldn't be more excited to bring one of the legends of the sommelier world—and one of today's leading natural wine producers in California—to Compline Wine Shop. I remember reverently reading Raj Parr's "Secrets of the Sommeliers" when I was learning my trade, and admiring the wine program he built at San Francisco's RN74.
I can't wait to welcome him to Compline Wine Shop to show off the wines of Phelan Farm!
-Matt
Phelan Farm - in Raj's words
On the far edge of Cambria, where the Pacific wind cuts through cypress and pine, Phelan Farm sits in a landscape that doesn’t give anything freely. The slopes are steep, the air stays cool, and the vines learn to adapt through pressure, scarcity, and time. At Phelan Farm, the work begins not with ambition, but with place. Cambria’s coastal fringe is rugged country — windswept, exposed, carved from ancient seabed. Vines don’t simply grow here; they adjust. They push down through fractured shale and calcareous clay to find what they need. That struggle isn’t something to overcome. It’s where the character begins. It’s 33 acres of vines. No irrigation. No chemicals. No shortcuts. Water arrives only when the season brings it: winter rain, fog, morning dew. The vines respond by digging deeper into the geology that still carries the memory of the ocean.
Our farming is regenerative by both design and necessity. Sheep move through the vineyard, grazing and fertilizing in the simplest, oldest rhythm. Cover crops rise and return with the seasons, building life in the soil. The goal is always the same: leave the land more alive than we found it. To farm this way is to pay attention. We read the soil. We watch the weather. We follow the cues of the coastal ecosystem. The vineyard tells us what it needs — and our job is to listen. Among these coastal blocks, we focus on the varieties of Jura and Savoie — grapes with natural tension and lift, varieties that speak honestly in a place defined by cool air, marine influence, and fractured stone.
In the cellar, restraint continues. Fermentations rely on native yeasts. Nothing is added — no adjustments, no corrections. Vessels are neutral. Extraction stays gentle. We don’t shape the wines beyond what the vineyard offers. We let this coastline express itself: the maritime tension, the herbal edge of the hills, the minerality that rises from ancient ground. Bottling is done by hand, without fining or filtration, keeping the texture and life of the wine intact.
Wine, here, isn’t manufactured — it’s revealed. Not perfected, but expressed. Not polished, but honest. Phelan Farm isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s built on humility — following nature instead of managing it, honoring the land instead of controlling it. True character comes from patience, difficulty, and time. It’s a practice. A devotion to soil, to life, and to authenticity in every bottle.
Time: 6:30-8pm
Format: Seated tasting
We do not send physical or digital tickets. Please give your name at the door to redeem your spot.
We couldn't be more excited to bring one of the legends of the sommelier world—and one of today's leading natural wine producers in California—to Compline Wine Shop. I remember reverently reading Raj Parr's "Secrets of the Sommeliers" when I was learning my trade, and admiring the wine program he built at San Francisco's RN74.
I can't wait to welcome him to Compline Wine Shop to show off the wines of Phelan Farm!
-Matt
Phelan Farm - in Raj's words
On the far edge of Cambria, where the Pacific wind cuts through cypress and pine, Phelan Farm sits in a landscape that doesn’t give anything freely. The slopes are steep, the air stays cool, and the vines learn to adapt through pressure, scarcity, and time. At Phelan Farm, the work begins not with ambition, but with place. Cambria’s coastal fringe is rugged country — windswept, exposed, carved from ancient seabed. Vines don’t simply grow here; they adjust. They push down through fractured shale and calcareous clay to find what they need. That struggle isn’t something to overcome. It’s where the character begins. It’s 33 acres of vines. No irrigation. No chemicals. No shortcuts. Water arrives only when the season brings it: winter rain, fog, morning dew. The vines respond by digging deeper into the geology that still carries the memory of the ocean.
Our farming is regenerative by both design and necessity. Sheep move through the vineyard, grazing and fertilizing in the simplest, oldest rhythm. Cover crops rise and return with the seasons, building life in the soil. The goal is always the same: leave the land more alive than we found it. To farm this way is to pay attention. We read the soil. We watch the weather. We follow the cues of the coastal ecosystem. The vineyard tells us what it needs — and our job is to listen. Among these coastal blocks, we focus on the varieties of Jura and Savoie — grapes with natural tension and lift, varieties that speak honestly in a place defined by cool air, marine influence, and fractured stone.
In the cellar, restraint continues. Fermentations rely on native yeasts. Nothing is added — no adjustments, no corrections. Vessels are neutral. Extraction stays gentle. We don’t shape the wines beyond what the vineyard offers. We let this coastline express itself: the maritime tension, the herbal edge of the hills, the minerality that rises from ancient ground. Bottling is done by hand, without fining or filtration, keeping the texture and life of the wine intact.
Wine, here, isn’t manufactured — it’s revealed. Not perfected, but expressed. Not polished, but honest. Phelan Farm isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s built on humility — following nature instead of managing it, honoring the land instead of controlling it. True character comes from patience, difficulty, and time. It’s a practice. A devotion to soil, to life, and to authenticity in every bottle.
Time: 6:30-8pm
Format: Seated tasting
We do not send physical or digital tickets. Please give your name at the door to redeem your spot.