Dr. Phil Freese is an internationally acclaimed wine growing advisor with an intimate knowledge of the world’s vineyards. He graduated from Purdue University in 1968 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and received a Ph. D. in biochemistry/biophysics from the University of California, Davis in 1973. Following his tenure as vice president of winegrowing at the Robert Mondavi Winery, Phil began independent wine growing services business WineGrow in 1993. He works closely with winemakers and the wine grape vineyards to achieve the full expression of wine character from each site.

Phil is the wine growing partner and an owner of Vilafonté Vineyards in Paarl and Stellenbosch, South Africa. Phil consults internationally to wine growers and wine producers in South Africa, Chile, Argentina and the Golan Heights of Israel. He maintains a consulting practice based in his home state of California.