Zoe
Tasted Thursday, June 8, 2006 by bsherwin with 1,362 views
Thanks to Mike for organizing a wonderful event (with the emphasis on organized). There were some seriously fantastic wines here and it was great to be able to put them in context. After tasting all these, I'm not sure that I could say there is a signature Insignia style, given the variability. Maybe a better way to say it is that there is not an attempt to impose a will on the wines but to make the best of what a particular vintage gives. All in, I'd say that my favorites were the '97, '02, '01, '96, '95, '99, '91 in that order.
Great to see some old faces and meet new ones. Laid back, fun event. Now the wines...
Clearly the weakest of the 4 flights, these wines had a Bordeaux feel to them.
There seems to be a sea change with the '95 from an Old World style to the classic California profile.
The '98 really sticks out like a sore thumb between these two beauties.
The '00 is pretty good for the vintage, but the '01 and '02 are a great yin and yang that will be drunk and compared for years
1991 Joseph Phelps Insignia
USA, California, Napa Valley
An exquisite wine. The nose was very restrained at first but opened up beautifully and became more expressive as the evening wore on. Herbal, earthy gave way to plums and truffle. The whole wine came into much more focus with some air time. A herbs, cedar and sour cherry flavors were well balanced with a bright acidity. It really grew in the glass. Great structure and complexity. Not nearly as big as I expected. WOTF.
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1992 Joseph Phelps Insignia
USA, California, Napa Valley
Pretty shut down with very little on the nose. Various attempts at resuscitation by vigorous swirling revealed a little, but not much. Tannins mask a core band of fruit that never really took off. Clipped and slightly astringent on the finish. It was the little engine that couldn't.
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1993 Joseph Phelps Insignia
USA, California, Napa Valley
Not terribly expressive nose of cedar and black cherry. More tar and leather than fruit in the mouth. Supple on the midpalate, but then a bit astringent on the finish. It wasn't quite all that bad, but it wasn't particularly good either.
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