1999 Joseph Phelps Insignia
Community Tasting Note
babnik wrote:
Monday, February 27, 2006 - As I was thoroughly enjoying this lovely wine, I got to thinking: Why don't more medium and large sized wineries in Napa produce wine as good as Joseph Phelps Vineyards does with Insignia, year in, year out? It would seem to reason. While I may be able to achieve more of a sense of place by having a small vineyard source, my viticultural success is always dependent on one little plot of land -- Sink or swim by one vineyard. Phelps and other medium or large size wineries, on the other hand, sometimes have 100's or 1000's of acres worth of grapes to source from. Shouldn't their premium release be among the best each year? With Phelps, it is. Insignia, in my opinion, is almost always one of the best wines to come out of the Napa Valley. They use the best grapes they have to produce their best wine. Even in underperforming vintages such as 1998 and 2000, Phelps Insignia is still a "go to" wine. Yet we can all name many wineries that surely have access to a lot of grapes and yet produce ho-hum wines as their flagship wine. Here's hoping that the commitment to making a superb wine, whether it be 30000 cases, or 500 continues to be a priority in the Napa Valley and if production needs to drop in order to maintain quality, we all continue that commitment.
So... regarding the 1999 Phelps Insignia... inky dark color. Dark fruit of blackberries, rum soaked bing cherries, vanilla, and maple. Slight mint notes, cedar, and oak backbone. This wine is all about balance. My recollection was it was great young. It's great now. And it will probably be great in 5 years. My advice is to enjoy this one in 2-3 years giving the still ample tannins time to continue to integrate. Balance. It's what Insignia always seems to be about: balance which is the essence of great winemaking.
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