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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.6 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 315 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Buyer and cellar on 4/17/2024 & rated 96 points: Was one of the wines of the night at an all mag dinner that included some heavy hitting mags (ie Redigaffi, Ovid Hexameter, Valbuena #5, some high scoring aussie, and others. Some thought it was the WOTN but all agreed it was absolutely in a prime drinking window right now. Lots of mature, rich balanced black fruit, leather, tobacco, chocolate, and earth notes are perfectly rounding out the glass. (263 views) | | | Tasted by Baback on 3/30/2024 & rated 94 points: 13.5% Napa cab comprised of 90% cab, 7% merit, 3% petit verdot.
Didn’t need the Durand (although I used it) since this cork came out in 1 piece.
Based on previous reviews I popped and poured and oh boy. Home run. Tasted like a 15yo Bordeaux. Full of life, balanced, tons of primary flavors still, mod tannins. Licorice, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, pipe tobacco, mushroom.
After 1 hour getting some faint tertiary notes, but still fruit forward. Based on prior reviews I was worried this was past it’s prime, but the bottle I had could have gone another 10 years. Terrific wine. (467 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 3/16/2024: A 65th Birthday Celebration (Schur House - Riverwoods IL): Tired. (723 views) | | | Tasted by lesz on 11/8/2023 & rated 93 points: part of vertical (1402 views) | | | Tasted by Old_Diablo on 10/18/2023 & rated 95 points: Surprisingly still showing very well, but I would drink this soon. 13.5abv and drinking like a beautiful and well-structured Bordeaux. There is still some intensity, but a more subtle richness, Ripe/dried red and black fruit, sweet dried herbs, licorice, creme de cassis, and forest floor. Some primary fruit left, but dominated by tertiary note. We tried this side by side with the 2007 and we actually like this 1995 vintage more because of its elegance. If we were blind tasting, we would not have guessed this was a Napa cab. (1303 views) | | | Tasted by Juliansi on 8/1/2023 & rated 94 points: Stunning and by far the most complex and best Insignia I have ever enjoyed.
Gently bottle breathed for 4 hours, loved the silky yet robust mouthfeel with medium acidity. Late sweetness was so enjoyable as was the very long complex finish.
Joseph Phelps produced 10,000 cases of the 1995 Insignia, which is about 120,000 bottles.
This is a blend of 🍇
90% Cabernet Sauvignon,
7% Merlot and
3% Petit Verdot.
It achieved 13.5% alcohol.
Three-quarters of the fruit came from estate vineyards and the rest from growers. It spent 26 months in new French oak.
This 1995 vintage began as a potentially troublesome year.
The early spring was very wet, and unusually cool weather plagued both June and July, two important months in the growing season. Warm weather finally arrived in August (much later than usual), and stayed through the end of October, producing a glorious Indian Summer that allowed growers to delay the harvest.
The results are wines that have gotten stronger and stronger in bottle.
Insignia especially these aged vintages, this one is coming up to 30 years now! What a treat...
Intense, powerful but silky and refined at the same time. Amazing..
Rich with arguably the best mouthfeel of all the spectacular wines we enjoyed that fun evening in Taman Tun, including aged Ducrus, Pichon Lalande and Cheval-Blanc too!
Coincidentally my Pichon Lalande Comtesse was from this same 1995 vintage too!
One of 10 bottles at TCs welcome home in TTDI KL, graciously shared by bro Dr Muruga Vadivale. Lesson learned.. Do not pop an Insignia below 10 years, better if its 15-25 years old!
Above Enoteca, TTDI KL Malaysia
1 Aug 2023 (1711 views) | | | Tasted by Handy1 on 5/28/2023 & rated 97 points: Decanted for an hour and drank over two. Red fruit, beautiful napa cabernet with some leather and tobacco. Still going strong and not fading. Great bottle. Better than Solaia 2015 because of age i believe (1634 views) | | | Tasted by Ruby99 on 5/14/2023 & rated 93 points: Still dark in color
Nose has potent dark fruits and initially raw meat that then softens to tobacco and leather with hints of cinnamon and cardamom
The palate is that classic, lovely Napa fruit profile of blackberry/black cherry. Fine grained tannin is in the background and the richness of the fruit suggests this wine has a few more years
Very nice (1520 views) | | | Tasted by levinml on 12/31/2022 & rated 96 points: Drank from 3L bottle New Years Eve at Tryons. Poured into glasses at beginning of evening, allowing to breath for a couple hours before drinking. Kind of flat/compressed on first taste at opening, but opened up dramatically after an hour. Excellent as we sat down to dinner. Nice flavors, tannins resolved but not pruney at all. Good drinking overall and a nice use of this trophy bottle purchased almost 25 years ago. (1600 views) | | | Tasted by UFGators on 10/9/2022 & rated 94 points: Drank side by side with 2000 Pichon Baron. The Phelps had dark fruit on the nose reminiscent of the old world. To me seems like a cross between right bank BDX and Left Bank St Julien. The palate still has lots of primary fruit flavors as well as secondary notes as well. Everything is in balance and was easily the WOTN. As prior reviewer suggested, just missing something. If you rate it blind score may be lower 90s but since I know it's Napa and this usually is not my thing I think it merits a 94. (1898 views) | | | Tasted by Ltrain1282 on 10/8/2022 & rated 93 points: On the nose could be confused with a quality right bank bdx. Dark fruit, ripe plum. Fully resolved tanin. This wine is in a good place and very enjoyable. Just missing that specialness that Cali can’t provide! Drank side by side with a 2000 Pichon Baron … the two husbands (both wine guys) chose the Phelps. The two ladies preferred the pichon. Thoughts ? (1572 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 9/22/2022 & rated 96 points: The Return to the Ledbury (The Ledbury, London): Our third bottle over the last 2 years and once again another 96. Interestingly this was served blind and our friend narrowed it down to a hot year top end Bordeaux (a 2003 Mouton?) or an early 90s classicist from Napa ( Dominus / Togni).
And indeed this boils down to that, well evolved, bright nose of full on classic aromas of a secondary nature, forest floor, leather but also with a very healthy fruit. Did feel a bit more brutish than it should have but these are finer elements. A truly impressive wine and a must buy more situation. 96 (1682 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 6/19/2022 & rated 96 points: Decanted for a good hour. Tasted blind.
Andreas who had this blind won no prizes guessing mid 90s Napa as in a way the wine , barring an impressive youthfulness , is really a text book wine. Much like 6 month ago when we had this it amazed us. We can go on and on here but its pointless. Well made Napa cabs of he 90s are now delivering to the maximum. Superb 96+ (2173 views) | | | Tasted by Buddy318 on 4/30/2022 & rated 94 points: Fabulous. Beautiful soft tannins. Likely less than five years left. (1624 views) | | | Tasted by Nelsongwinn on 3/16/2022 & rated 94 points: Wow, nice, decanted for a half hour or so….nice fruit and long finish. Bell pepper and smoke. (1569 views) | | | Tasted by andolini on 2/27/2022 & rated 92 points: Opened for an hour, beautiful aged cab nose. Unfortunately seemed to be past its peak, with slightly faded fruit profile and less distinction and complexity as previous tastings. Not a bad bottle by any stretch of the imagination, but my hopes with these aged cabs are to have a transcendent experience, and this didn't reach that level. (1576 views) | | | Tasted by Seth Rosenberg on 1/21/2022 & rated 91 points: (Double blind in small capped bottles. Part of a 2 wine flight. By the time I got to the discussion, it was clear that one was France and the other was California. I think I would have probably gotten that, but I helped focus things by stating my view that this was a classic BDX vs CA cabernet throw down, and this was confirmed.)
This was better last night showing classic Napa markers but not overdone. Sweet lush fruits, some chocolate and vanilla, minty-ish herbal notes, a bit of oak left. Maybe some mocha and a bit of heat. A bit generic without the distinctive characteristics of the few CA cabs I like to drink (MB, Togni, DC, Dunn…) but solid and enjoyable. BUT, today this wine is a mess - rotting leaves and a bit sour on the nose. Palate is a bit better showing some of the sweet fruit but still has that rotting leaves thing. Last night it was in the 15.5-16/20 range and so I’ll score it based on that. But if I scored it based on today's performance it would be more like a 12/20 (84/100). (2027 views) | | | Tasted by shafer1994 on 12/27/2021 & rated 98 points: I decanted the wine for 1,5 hours. The color was beautiful deep red. The bouquet was intense and complex: some dark berries, cassis, coffee, spices - finish after 40+ seconds with Lots of sweetness. Marvelous texture. A powerful strong wine at age 26 which offered us a joyful evening. Napa at its best. A decade more to Go. (1668 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 12/10/2021 & rated 96 points: Decanted a good 45 minutes before served and correctly the sommelier ( we BYOB at The Kitchen Table, London) spotted this as not needed more as the wine is also a touch fragile at times.
Napa of the 1990s strikes again and this a phenomenal bottle. Good evolution, leathery, spice, dark fruits and with a light touch of oaky feel at the background. An impressive wine though, bang on at a great time in its life to be enjoyed by people like us with a love affair with evolved , old school Napa. Superb 96 and we can go on and on here. (1693 views) | | | Tasted by 89grange on 11/12/2021 & rated 98 points: Beautiful now!!! Drink up. (1564 views) | | | Tasted by galewskj on 10/22/2021 & rated 93 points: A stacked cabernet lineup (James and Carrie's house): 20 minute decant. Sweet oak, black fruit, it has that somewhat exotic fruit that I usually find in Insignia, refined tannins. This wasn't the best Insignia but it was still pretty darn good. (1658 views) | | | Tasted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine on 10/22/2021 & rated 94 points: Outstanding Old World Napa Cabs: 20 min decant then slow O'd for 2 hours - Nose showed black fruit and a slight whiff of alcohol (which blew off pretty quickly) with some forest floor and sweet toasted oak. The palate was full of red and black fruit with hints of cobbler, some graphite/lead and hints of toasted wood. The tannins were well integrated and there was a slight alcohol presence with was not at all obtrusive. A very nice aged Insignia that has the fruit and tannins to further improve with a few more years of bottle age. 94 tonight, with the likelihood for improvement with some additional time. (2031 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 10/22/2021 & rated 92 points: Old OG Napa Cabs (James & Carrie's, Northern Burbs, Mpls): Very dark red/purple color. 20 minute double decant, drank a glass over 3 plus hours. The nose is the star here with cool Fall forest floor and cool black and blue fruit, cassis, balsamic and some light vanillin. Dense on the palate, the fruit comes off a little more baked, blackberry cobbler, high toned with some heat coming through, nice tannins. Very good, though we've had better showings in the past. (1561 views) | | | Tasted by liquid art on 10/22/2021 & rated 93 points: Like the White Queen said to Alice, there is jam tomorrow, and there was jam yesterday, but no jam today. This wine checked all the boxes, fragrant nose, integrated fruit and balanced palate, but today didn’t quite elevate to the level of classic old school Napa it is capable of. (1116 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 10/3/2021 & rated 94 points: A fully developed, elegant, refined, classy wine that offers everything in balance and harmony. The dark red berries, with touches of earth, cocoa, and spice, are ripe, the tannins are sweet and the finish is long, with freshness and energy. I really like the style here. No decanting needed. Just pop, pour and enjoy... (2778 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Horizontal Tasting of Napa Valley’s 1995 Cabernets (Jun 2016) (6/1/2016)
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, Cali Cabs Then and Somewhat Now plus Top 100 Weekend Teaser (4/10/2005)
(Joseph Phelps Insignia) Login and sign up and see review text. | By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, A Double Dose of Angry Man Action (3/7/2005)
(Joseph Phelps Insignia.) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/12/2002)
(Joseph Phelps, Insignia California Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and Vintage Tastings and JancisRobinson.com. (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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