The Gathering Table 2024

The Gathering Table 2024

We decided we wanted to celebrate family for our Gathering Table event this year. It is so important for our family to be involved in our vineyard. Our kids and grandkids have all planted their own vines and have a great time relaxing and playing in the vineyard. We feel our vineyard is such a peaceful place and love sharing it with others.

One special tradition we have is Family Pizza Night. Our kids have also included this tradition with their families over the years. So, when we began thinking of the perfect theme and menu for this event we couldn’t help but make it a Family Pizza Night. It was so special to see everyone enjoying the vineyard and having so much fun. We also got to celebrate Tony’s 60th birthday. It was a complete surprise to him. Pulling off this surprise took an extensive amount of secret planning but we pulled it off. You should have seen his face when the first guest arrived who was not on the guest list he helped curate.

Since we love Family Pizza Night so much we called on Crusty’s Wood Fire Pizza. Crusty’s made everything from the appetizers to the dessert. We enjoyed Roasted Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto and Caprese Skewers followed by a beautiful Mixed Greens Salad. Crusty’s laid out a variety of our favorite pizza’s for everyone to enjoy. To end the night we were delighted by the S’Mores pizza and a delectable Strawberry Cheesecake pizza.

To round out the meal we were so honored to serve a refreshing 2023 Chenin Blanc, Phillips Vineyard, produced by Wedding Oak Winery. Mike and Lynn McHenry, owners of Wedding Oak Winery, were able to join us and speak on our long standing relationship as well as their winery. Their presence made this wine selection even more special. We also chose the 2023 Mourvèdre Rosé, Phillips Vineyard, from Portree Cellars. This rosé was the perfect complement to the meal on a warm summer night. The last wine we chose was the 2022 La Valentia Cinsault Blend made by Wine For The People. This wine is made with 70% Phillips Vineyard Cinsault. It was the perfect pair with wood fired pizza.

We had a great time gathering with family, friends and mentors celebrating everything the vineyard brings to our life. A special bonus was being able to celebrate Tony’s 60th Birthday with everyone.

enjoy

Phillips Vineyard
1884 County Rd 480
Brownfield, TX 79316
(Physical Location)

Tony Phillips
806.470.3302

Madonna Phillips
806.470.3303

OUR STORY

OUR GRAPES

OUR PARTNERS

GATHERING TABLE

LOCATION

TOURIGA NACIONAL

Varietal : Touriga Nacional
Planted: 2015
Acres: 5
Origin: Portugal

Characteristics:
Early to mid bud break | Highly vigorous | Bush like growth | Mid to late ripening | Low yield

Personality:
Touriga Nacional is our “Beast”. This vine is full of power and energy requiring multiple canopy management passes to keep it under control. It’s leaves are thick and slightly rough. It produces small clusters with very small berries. These small berries are packed with tannin, flavor and bold color.

Cinsault

Varietal : Cinsault
Planted: 2016
Acres: 5
Origin: France / Rhône

Characteristics:
Mid to late bud break | Moderate to high vigor | Mid season ripening | Moderate to high yield

Personality:
“Ms. Cinsault” is a very stately vine. She takes her own sweet time to move, so to speak. She is very thoughtful and makes her moves when she is good and ready. She develops large and voluptuous clusters with supple berries. This vine requires attention to spacing, a good shoot thinning pass and a deliberate leaf thinning pass.

Chenin Blanc

Varietal : Chenin Blanc
Planted: 2019
Acres: 2.5
Origin: France

Characteristics:
Early bud break | High vigor | Unruly growth | Early ripening | Moderate to high yield

Personality:
Chenin Blanc loves the summer season. This vine loves the sun. It loves the heat. It produces clusters and berries that scream all things summer. It packs in as much as it can so it can soak up all the summer time has to offer. You have to pay close attention to spacing and shoot positioning with this varietal. Shoot thinning and leaf pulling are very important in creating air flow and sunlight penetration. The berries are thin skinned and the clusters have a tendency to have bunch rot issues. Timely fungicide sprays are also crucial.

Roussanne

Varietal : Roussanne
Planted: 2016
Acres: 2.5
Origin: France / Northern Rhône

Characteristics:
Mid season bud break | Highly vigorous | Mid season ripening | Moderate yield

Personality:
This is the vine we lovingly call “Our crazy Aunt Roussanne”. She brings the fun and excitement to any party but is quite sophisticated. Just picture a well dressed lady with crazy red hair and fine jewels. She is holding a cigarette in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other. This vine produces a tremendous amount of lateral shoots which create quite a mess in the canopy structure. It requires a really good shoot thinning pass and several wire adjustments to keep the canopy maintained. This varietal produces extremely tight clusters with small berries. Timing is crucial with fungicide spray passes to avert bunch rot issues.

Mourvèdre

Varietal : Mourvèdre
Planted: 2019
Acres: 5
Origin: Spain / France

Characteristics:
Late bud break | Highly upright growth | Late ripening | Moderate yield

Personality:
You can’t think of Mourvèdre without thinking of the Mediterranean coast. Who doesn’t love laying on the beach with your head in the sun and your toes in the water. This is quintessential Mourvèdre. It loves its face in the sun and its feet in the water. Warm weather, good leafing and proper irrigation help produce a happy vine and fruit that matures to the perfect amount of jamminess and deep dark color.

Muscat Blanc

Varietal : Muscat Blanc
Planted: 2016
Acres: 2.5
Origin: Greece / France

Characteristics:
Early bud break | Moderate to high vigor | Rapid growth | Early ripening | Moderate yield

Personality:
Muscat Blanc is like a teenager. When it breaks bud it’s ready to run and take on the world as fast as it can. Similar to teenagers it needs boundaries. One good canopy management pass and a few suckering passes along the way keep this vine in check. The leaves on this vine can get as large as a salad plate. Muscat Blanc is the varietal which produces large clusters and berries that taste like “wine in a berry”.

Picpoul Blanc

Varietal: Picpoul Blanc
Planted: 2023
Acres: 2.5
Origin: France / Rhône

Characteristics:
Early bud break | Moderate vigor | Mid to late ripening | Mid to high yield

Personality:
Picpoul Blanc is known as “Lip Stinger” in the wine world, so I’m sure there is going to be some excitement in our future. This varietal is somewhat like a great magician. It’s best magic trick is throwing clusters before leaves. Finally, the leaves appear and the vines settle in showing off an abundance of beautiful clusters. It is one of the longest ripening white varietals and just waits for the perfect harvest. Spur spacing and timely fungicide sprays are crucial in maintaining a healthy vine and beautiful clusters.

Alvarinho

Varietal: Alvarinho
Planted: 2023
Acres: 2.5
Origin: Portugal

Characteristics:
Early bud break | Moderately vigorous | Mid season ripening | Low to moderate yield

Personality:
Alvarinho is the Portuguese counterpart to the Spanish varietal, Albariño. Alvarinho is considered to be the noble white grape of Portugal’s Vinho Verde region. This varietal is very suited to handle the environment on the Texas High Plains. It can take the heat but enjoys a cool, rainy day followed by our west Texas wind to dry out the canopy.

Teroldego

Varietal : Teroldego
Planted: 2023
Acres: 5
Origin: Italy / Northeastern Trentino-Alto Adige Region

Characteristics:
Mid season bud break | Moderate vigor | Late ripening | Low to moderate yield

Personality:
The thought that comes to mind with this varietal is “Dark and Moody”. This varietal produces berries that are very deeply pigmented, intensely fruit forward and surprisingly inky. Teroldego may very well be the “Italian Stallion” to the more feminine Sangiovese. It is very well suited for Guyot ( or VSP – Vertical Shoot Positioning ) trellis system we implement in our vineyard.

Graciano

Varietal : Graciano
Planted: 2019
Acres: 2.5
Origin: Spain

Characteristics:
Mid to late bud break | Moderate vigor | Upright growth | Late ripening | Low to moderate yield

Personality:
Graciano is our “Little Gem”. She reminds me of the Mexican folklore hat dancers with big colorful dresses. The leaves emerge at bud break with a fringe of red and the tiny developing primordial clusters are smudged with red. As you walk along the vine row you can’t help but notice the red tips on the tendrils. Graciano can dance with quite the flair but has a tendency to throw bull cane like shoots.