Community Tasting Note

• Pcrage wrote: 80 points

  December 22, 2015 - First let me say that I am a big fan of Insignia and have a case vertical from 1997 though 2012. It is one of my favorite California blends and I always look forward to a special occasion to open this fine wine...except in the case of the 2011.
  
  It pains me to say this but the 2011 is a real disappointment. Tasted out of bottle upon decant and it gave little indication of anything exciting. Aired for over an hour and then drank one glass (that's all I could take) over the next hour. Restrained nose, a bit of fruit up front then flat mid palate and nothing but a watery descent on the finish. This saddened me.
  
  I realize this is a young wine but it has limited depth and tannin let alone fruit right now to hope for anything better.
  
  I have had no less than 60 bottles of insignia over the years and this was a major bummer.

  1 person found this helpful 4,325 views

3 Comments

• T.O.Wineaux commented:

  12/22/15, 7:26 PM - I'm sure you're aware 2011 was an absolute bomb of a vintage for most Napa cabs (of course few wineries admitted it...most stated their practices enabled them to produce a great 2011 wine and the vintage maily affected everyone else). My hat goes off...way off...to wineries like Maybach that declassified the whole year and tossed it in the trash! The age old adage ' let the buyer beware' truly applies for instances like this! You're not the only one that is so disappointed!

• Pcrage commented:

  12/25/15, 1:59 AM - I guess I expected more from the Phelps brand but being a businessman understand the challenge scrapping a vintage can be. Not everyone can be like maybach and y'quem when it comes to quality above production.

• jeffm_fla commented:

  2/18/16, 1:04 PM - A real indicator of how awful 2011 was in Napa. What amazed me was how many wineries actually RAISED their prices in '11 ( Thank you Harlan!). My, admittedly cynical, guess is that they knew they weren't going to be able to move the 2011s anyway, so they got their new prices in place for the much better, and much larger, 2012 vintage.

Add a Comment