Joseph Phelps Insignia - $199.99

Wine Details

Price: $199.99
Producer: Joseph Phelps Vineyards
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Bordeaux - Red
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: black cherry, cassis, dark fruit, mineral
  • Award Winning
  • Red Wine
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Product Description

  • The 2004 vintage marks the first time Insignia has been blended entirely from estate-grown fruit - the fulfillment of a dream that has taken many years to realize. The low-yield vintage produced a wine with syrupy blackberry and blueberry aromas married with seductive spice, followed by velvety tannins, roundness in the finish and outstanding texture, all of which are superbly integrated.

Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
WineAdvocate - (93-96) Details: The 2005 Insignia (12,500 cases) is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. Elegant and restrained (which is very much in keeping with the style of this vintage), the wine is also rich, dense, pure, with chocolatey cassis notes intermixed with hints of subtle wood, roasted herbs, and spice. It is ripe, rich, full-bodied, but in need of 4-5 years of bottle age. It should last for 25-30 years. It is far more reticent than the more flamboyant 2004. <BR><BR>Previously recommended: 2003 Insignia (94), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard (96), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (88).<BR><BR>(Release date 9/08)<BR><BR>Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2005 WineAdvocate
Tanzer - 92-95 Details: (92% cabernet sauvignon, 7% petit verdot and 1% merlot) Good deep ruby. Reticent dark fruit and mineral aromas. Then broad, sweet and vibrant in the mouth, showing considerably more flavor today than the 2005 Backus. The petit verdot component gives weight to the cooler cassis and black cherry flavors. Very tightly structured, vibrant wine with a strong tannic spine for aging. If this puts on mid-palate flesh during the final months of elevage it will merit a score at the high end of my projected range. 2005 Tanzer black cherry, cassis, dark fruit, mineral
WineAdvocate - (90-93) Details: There are only 10,000 cases of the fat, opulent, full-bodied, heady, alcoholic 2004 Insignia (72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec). Abundant fruit is presented in a big, up-front, flamboyant style along with hints of soy sauce, blackberries, cassis, incense, minerals, charcoal, and graphite. It is ideal for drinking during its first 12-15 years of life. (Release date 9/07) Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2004 WineAdvocate
Tanzer - 93(+?) Details: ($200; cabernet sauvignon with 14% merlot, 12% petit verdot and 2% minerals) Bright ruby-red. Complex nose melds cassis, black cherry, lead pencil and cedar. Sweet and fat but with a firm structure and very good vinosity. There's a sappy quality to the currant, cedar and chocolate flavors. Boasts the density of the vintage's best examples but, in comparison to the Backus, the tannins hit the palate a bit earlier. The very long finish hints at cedar and graphite. I'd put this aside for a couple of years. 2004 Tanzer blackberries, cassis, graphite, incense, minerals
WineAdvocate - (93-96) Details: The 2005 Insignia (12,500 cases) is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. Elegant and restrained (which is very much in keeping with the style of this vintage), the wine is also rich, dense, pure, with chocolatey cassis notes intermixed with hints of subtle wood, roasted herbs, and spice. It is ripe, rich, full-bodied, but in need of 4-5 years of bottle age. It should last for 25-30 years. It is far more reticent than the more flamboyant 2004. <BR><BR>Previously recommended: 2003 Insignia (94), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard (96), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (88).<BR><BR>(Release date 9/08)<BR><BR>Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2005 WineAdvocate
WineAdvocate - 95 Details: The 2004 Insignia (the first to be 100% from the estate vineyards) is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec. I had this wine several times in Napa, and it is a beauty. A flashy, exuberant style for Phelps, with dense ruby/purple color, a gorgeous nose of creme de cassis, incense, licorice, smoke, and spice, the wine has supple tannins, a flamboyant, full-bodied mouthfeel, and tremendous length. Despite its precociousness and up-front style, this wine should evolve easily for 20 or more years. There are 10,000 cases of the 2004. <BR><BR>Previously recommended: 2003 Insignia (94), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard (96), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (88).<BR><BR>Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2004 WineAdvocate blackberries, cassis, graphite, incense
WineSpectator - 94 Details: Tight and complex, with a deep, potent core of ripe currant, herb, sage and dusty berry fruit, shaded by light toasty, cedary oak. Deftly balanced, intense and concentrated, this is young and closed in now, yet you can taste the depth and richness. Tannic. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Best from 2010 through 2020. 9,000 cases made. –JL 2004 WineSpectator berry, currant, herb, oak, sage
CGCW - 94 Details: 72% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% Malbec; 12% Petit Verdot; 2% Malbec. Among the richest and most succulent wines to be had in December's very fine bunch, Phelps's latest Insignia is a sweet and flamboyant wine that literally oozes concentrated, cassis-like fruit. It is filled out by lots of very rich, creme caramel oak, and it finds added dimension by way of its loamy earth accents. Its ample, well-tailored tannins go nearly unnoticed in light of its wonderfully plush texture, and if there are temptations to enjoy this plump and polished offering in its youth, there are manifold reasons to believe that it will continue to unfold and to improve for a decade or more. 2004 CGCW caramel, earth, oak
WineAdvocate - (91-93) Details: The 2003 Insignia (a 15,000-case blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Merlot) is probably the most Bordeaux-structured of any of the Insignias I have tasted to date. The color is a healthy deep ruby/purple. While restrained aromatically, the nose exhibits good spice, ripe black fruits, and hints of new oak and licorice. In the mouth, the wine is dense and rich with mouth-gripping tannin. It would not appear to have the same potential as the 2001 or 2002, but there is a lot going on. It is more a vin de garde style with a decidedly French personality. Patience will be required. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2020. (Not yet released) Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2003 WineAdvocate licorice, new oak, spice
WineAdvocate - (90-93) Details: There are only 10,000 cases of the fat, opulent, full-bodied, heady, alcoholic 2004 Insignia (72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec). Abundant fruit is presented in a big, up-front, flamboyant style along with hints of soy sauce, blackberries, cassis, incense, minerals, charcoal, and graphite. It is ideal for drinking during its first 12-15 years of life. (Release date 9/07) Tel. (707) 963-2745; Fax (707) 963-4831 2004 WineAdvocate
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Soft Pungent Cheese
Pasta & Grains Lasagna
Sauces Red Wine Sauce

Awards and Accolades

  Name Vintage
Award Winner Top 50 Cellar Selections - 2007 Wine Enthusiast 2003

Wine Terms

Name Value
Napa This tiny strip of land just north of San Francisco is home to America’s most prestigious wineries. Its climate is ideal for viticulture. Ironically, it was deemed too ideal for some vintners, who have moved their vineyards from the valley’s flat plain to the hills in the east and west, adhering to the idea that grapes that struggle to grow yield better wine. The climate, soil, and individual wineries are enormously varied, so it’s impossible to identify a singular trait of Napa wines. In addition, nearly every noble grape is grown here, although Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the primary grapes. In the past, Napa’s wines have alternated between extremely fruity and fat to lean and subtle. Today the best Napa wines have achieved a balance between these extremes. Many are made to be drunk young and have abundant ripe fruit; others can be initially hard and tannic, but soften over four or five years to perfumed, cedary fruit. White Napa wines are excellent with fresh-grilled fish and chicken, but can also cope with more spicy and creamy flavors. Many Napa reds will overwhelm delicate cuisine, but rich red meat and cheeses do make good companions.
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.
Napa County Napa County is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. At the north end of Napa County is the Bay Area's second tallest peak Mount Saint Helena, and to the far south of Napa County lays the section of the Napa Valley that bleeds into Carneros. When the first white settlers arrived in the early 1830s, there were six tribes in the valley speaking different dialects and they were often at war with each other. The Mayacomos tribe lived in the area where Calistoga was founded. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Napa Valley is widely considered one of the top wine regions in California and all of the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Today Napa Valley features more than two hundred wineries and grows many different grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel. The region is visited by as many as five million people each year, making it the second to Disneyland as the most popular tourist destination in California.

Tasting Notes

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