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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.9 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 218 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on 1/12/2024: Popped and poured. Getting more soupy with age. Still holding a lot of fruit, but not as enjoyable as in years past. (631 views) | | | Tasted by SonnyChiba on 1/12/2024: Not my favorite Insignia. A little too port like and concentrated for my liking. (561 views) | | | Tasted by Rieslingfan on 7/28/2023: 1998 is often thought of as an”off vintage” for Napa Valley, but IMO that was only true if 1997 was the winemaking goal. Twenty-five years on, and this is mellow in expression, but full flavored with no indication of underripeness or dilution. The fruit is still present, and it has spice, tobacco, cedar and earthy accents. The texture is surprisingly silky, and not at all heavy. Not a lot of tannin left, so near term drinking seems to be best, but that won’t be a hardship. (1243 views) | | | Tasted by Wineshington on 6/28/2023 & rated 92 points: Won in a bet. Good wine, a little funky and barnyardy. Showing its age but still enjoyable. (1100 views) | | | Tasted by Nothung on 2/14/2023 & rated 93 points: A beautiful wine for sure, a wonderful,California cab for certain, but it lacked the complexity to make it truly profound. It’s in a great place right now. Don’t see it getting better with more age, but the wine has a number of years ahead in its prime drinking window. Opened for 5 hours and then decanted for another two hours. (1519 views) | | | Tasted by peternelson on 2/8/2023 & rated 92 points: Rich, ripe, cherry pie, bright with sweet rich fruit notes; Good lift,long mineral finish, touch spicy in the back end (oak?). Can't beleive this was a '98. Tasted very fresh and fruity, but a bit too sweet. DD Napa Cabs blind at Michaels. Groups 3rd fav. (1264 views) | | | Tasted by Paradigm Media on 8/18/2022: Spectacular. Showing better than the ‘97. Blackberry, ripe plum, even a little smoke. Tannin and acid began to be more prominent after 30 minutes. Open to honor Kim for Ashton’s graduation from nursing school. Touch of herb at the end, perhaps sage or oregano. Incredibly enjoyable (2090 views) | | | Tasted by Handy1 on 12/17/2021 & rated 92 points: Dont think bottle was stored well. Cork soft fruit faded, tired still enjoyable though (2356 views) | | | Tasted by Chekib m. on 9/3/2021 & rated 93 points: Excellent wine.
Still deep garnet.
Very intense nose. With liquorice, spices, dark chocolate, blue berry liqueur, cassis. Youthful but showing tertiary development.
the nose is missleading. You expect a highly concentrated beast, but you get an elegant nectar.
It’s medium to full body, medium acidity, the remaining tannins are quite soft and silky. It’s elegant, filling the mouth with flavours of red berries evolving into blue berries. some oaky chocolaty and espresso notes. very long.
Not super complex but extremely enjoyable and elegant.
I usually find the off vintages from Phelps Insignia much more enjoyable and elegant.
Loved it. (2640 views) | | | Tasted by MichielV on 6/26/2021 & rated 95 points: W beef goulash. Yummy meal. Found this in my cellar. Great wine after many disappointments with 20+ yr insignia in the past year. Yummu, fruit,body and length. Lots of life left! Really good wine. (2386 views) | | | Tasted by bethel31 on 3/28/2021 & rated 94 points: Nice and silky texture. Good mouthfeel with bit of sweetness. Tannins have completely soften with blueberry and floral notes. WOTN and stood up well to the Haut Brion (of a lesser year). Only magnum and wished had another bottle. (2648 views) | | | Tasted by bsreid on 2/25/2021 & rated 97 points: Beautiful wine that is still holding strong. The tannins have softened to nipping the tongue rather than biting. A flower garden in the glass.
Opened and decanted about 2 hours prior to consumption after standing bottle for several weeks. (2234 views) | | | Tasted by MichielV on 12/31/2020 & rated 91 points: W milk drowned pork. ny eve with Jenny and rudy - the 2003 was corked (although restof crowd dint think so) - aargh. This however was wayyyy to heavy and needs a few more years,many hours of decant AND probably a good rib-eye. Too bad this didn't really work. It tasted like a real good wine. It is big. Luckily we have another bottle. Warning: no delicate food with this. (1720 views) | | | Tasted by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on 7/10/2020 & rated 92 points: After a short decant, drank over 2.5 hours. Tomato juice like on the palate and surely the result of the 22% Merlot content. The blueberry flavor I experience previously is still there, but to a lesser extent. Although I still like it, I must score it lower than I did when I last drank it 5 years ago. (2031 views) | | | Tasted by SonnyChiba on 7/10/2020 & rated 91 points: Last tasted 5 years ago and scored slightly higher then. It took some time to come together, upon opening it felt disjointed. Still has that overripe concentrated blueberry, prune flavor that over powers things. But does have that awesome silky texture and mouthfeel you get with Insignia. Overall I think this is not the best vintage for this wine, and not really my style, but still a treat to try. (1723 views) | | | Tasted by bubbachumps on 5/29/2020 & rated 92 points: From a magnum and very much alive and well. Slight bricking, red color. Notes of cedar, red fruits and some earth. Completely integrated on the palate. Really smooth texture and some tannin still present. Popped and poured, consumed over 2 hours. Thanks for sharing Scott Shear! (1812 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 12/21/2019 & rated 89 points: Wine Flock Champagne Gala (Park Ridge CC): 98/99 flight. I preferred this as it had more nuance and subtle complexity with cedar and tobacco. Structure is soft as you might expect in this vintage. No reason to hold any longer. (2664 views) | | | Tasted by martin_e on 9/28/2019 & rated 90 points: In its late stage, will likely decline if held any longer. Candies, dry fruits, figs, very ripe cherry and raspberry in the aroma and flavor. Full-body wine, unusually sweet (2139 views) | | | Tasted by EJJWines on 7/1/2019 & rated 95 points: In memory of Neel Foon w/Genie and Brad (2071 views) | | | Tasted by gteran76 on 6/27/2018 & rated 92 points: Balanced and intriguing, the nose was French at first but after a while it changed to California. Very enjoyable and maybe passing its peak...
Drink now! (4084 views) | | | Tasted by lorenkreiss on 3/31/2018 & rated 93 points: Probably a little past its peak but still performing very nicely. There is still life in this bottle. That said, I would drink any bottles I had in my cellar this year. This tasted like a classic bottle of mature insignia, I didn’t notice any funk, true deterioration or loss of fruit. (3934 views) | | | Tasted by JimN on 12/29/2017 flawed bottle: Corked. Two in a row. (4167 views) | | | Tasted by KenK on 10/26/2017 & rated 86 points: Seen better days this had a raspberry sweetness that was a bit too extracted and intermixed with decaying fall leaves. Bricking color indicated aged. Disjointed. (4276 views) | | | Tasted by Winokdub on 7/30/2017 & rated 91 points: My least favorite out of 93, 95, and 03. Someone said it may be in a dumb phase because they had it 6 months ago and it showed better. No major improvement with air (4674 views) | | | Tasted by JimN on 7/28/2017 flawed bottle: Corked! (3760 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Vertical Tasting of Phelps Insignia (Apr 2016) (4/1/2016)
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2000, IWC Issue #90
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Joseph Phelps Producer website
In the late 60s, Joseph Phelps was running one of the largest construction companies in the U.S. when he won the bid to build Souverain Winery (now Rutherford Hill) located a few miles outside of St. Helena. Enamored with the beautiful Napa Valley and contemplating a career change, in 1973 he bought the 600-acre Connolly cattle ranch in Spring Valley, and began planting vineyards. The winery was completed in 1974 and that same year the first Syrah was made, the first grapes were crushed at the new facility and the first Insignia was produced. It was a period of unparalleled activity, creativity, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and risk-taking and it put Joe Phelps on the map of top Napa Valley wine producers.
Nearly four decades later, the flagship wine, Insignia, is recognized as one of the world’s great wines. Twenty nine of 34 vintages have been rated ninety or more points by various wine publications. From 1990 to 2007, the average score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate is 94.5 pts., with the lowest score still a fabulous 91. The 2002 vintage was “Wine of the Year” by Wine Spectator Magazine, and the 2007 vintage has been rated 98 points by Robert Parker and 96 points by Wine Spectator Magazine.
Over the years, the goal of becoming 100% estate grown resulted in carefully planned acquisitions of prime vineyards in the Napa Valley. Today, the Phelps estate consists of the Spring Valley Home Ranch outside of St. Helena, Banca Dorada in Rutherford, Las Rocas and Barboza vineyards in Stags Leap, Yountville Vineyard in Oak Knoll, Suscol Vineyard in South Napa and Backus Vineyard in Oakville.
Beginning with the 2009 vintage, estate-grown wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Insignia, Backus (the single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville) and Eisrébe, a dessert wine made from the Scheurebe grape. In addition, a small amount of Syrah is produced from fruit owned by Hyde Vineyards in Los Carneros.
Though the main focus is on Bordeaux varietals, Joe Phelps has had a life-long love affair with the wines of Burgundy and a desire to craft wines in that style. Originally Chardonnay was sourced from St. Helena, later from Yountville and then from Los Carneros. Through the years, however, Joe continued to search for the ideal spot to grow both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and his search ended when the perfect combination of climate, soil and location was found in Freestone, located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, a mere eight miles from the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, 200 acres were acquired and planting began. Today, 80 acres of Pinot Noir and 20 acres of Chardonnay are producing some remarkable wines which are available for tasting at the Freestone Guest Center. Visit Freestone Vineyards to learn more.Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.InsigniaOf interest concerning the sources for grapes for this wine:
http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-review/669/Insignia.html
jhtUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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