"Oh I'd be a rich man if I had all the money I owe.
But to have that much, I oughta' help them sell my soul.
One and one make two, two and two make four,
That figure don't drive the rent man from the door.
Just got time for a little more wine.
Just got time for a little more wine."

A Little More Wine by Savory Brown

I like this guy, there's always time for a little more wine!   Until your time runs out and then there is no more wine for you!!  That’s why I always say- drink the good stuff first!!

One Napa Valley winery that I would consider to be a "first growth" if such a thing existed would be Joseph Phelps Winery and the wine of course - Insignia.

Insignia was the very first Bordeaux inspired blend that was made in California dating back to the 1974 vintage, before Opus One and long before any of the elite "Cult" wines of Napa that today garner $200+ in price upon release and more in the aftermarket.

We tasted many of these wines on this offering over the years and I will never forget the "collectors series" wine dinner we hosted at Cafe Maxx with winemaker Craig Williams where we showcased 10 vintages of Insignia back to 1986 from local collectors cellars.  Every vintage on the table including the 1998 and 2000 were outstanding!  A testament to a great producer, their wines are excellent even in a difficult vintage.

This event is limited to 15 tasters and the price of this tasting/dinner is $275 + tax (or one bottle of Insignia at a similar value) for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Joseph Phelps Insignia Vertical Tasting at Wine Watch
Friday March 24th 2017
7pm

 

Tasting Line-Up:

1986 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa

 (94 points)  This surprisingly rich, dark garnet-colored Insignia displays notes of cedarwood, tobacco leaf, black currants, graphite and damp earth. Medium to full-bodied with remarkable density, richness and vigor for its age, one would think that with this much Merlot in the blend it would be near the end of its life, but that's not the case. It appears to have reached its plateau of full maturity, but it should drink well for another decade or more.  eRobertParker.com #1113,
Nov 2013

1994 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa

(96 Points) The 1994 Insignia (a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) is spectacular. I have had the wine a half-dozen or more times, and it is unquestionably opulent, sexy, flamboyant, explosively rich, concentrated, and a thrill to drink. Already gorgeous, it promises to evolve gracefully for two decades or more. The color is a healthy saturated dark purple. The spicy nose offers aromas of black currants, allspice, pain grille, and soy, with scents of a burning wood fire thrown in for additional complexity. This full-bodied, opulent, dazzling wine is exhilarating to drink.

Joseph Phelps is doing a phenomenal job with their Insignia. The winery produces 10,000-12,000 cases of this proprietary red wine, all of it aged in 100% new oak. Vintages since 1991 have been superb. Perhaps the best back-to-back vintages ever produced of this wine are the 1994 and 1995, which rival the great Insignias made in 1974 and 1976.  Wine Advocate #120, Dec 1998

1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia

(96 Points) Joseph Phelps' flagship wine is their fabulous Insignia, a wine with a tremendous track record back to the debut vintage of 1974. It is produced in significant quantities (18,000-20,000 cases) for a wine of such quality.

The prodigious 1997 Insignia (83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 3% Petit-Verdot) lives up to its pre-bottling promise. Tasted on three separate occasions, every bottle has hit the bull's eye. The color is a saturated thick-looking blue/purple. The nose offers up explosive aromas of jammy black fruits, licorice, Asian spices, vanillin, and cedar. Full-bodied as well as exceptionally pure and impressively endowed, this blockbuster yet surprisingly elegant wine cuts a brilliant swath across the palate. A seamless effort with beautifully integrated acidity, sweet tannin, and alcohol, it is still an infant, but can be drunk with considerable pleasure. Anticipated maturity: now-2025.   Wine Advocate #132, Dec 2000

1998 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $161.00    Your Price: $141.68
Quantity in Stock: 7

(91 points) Joseph Phelps' flagship wine is their fabulous Insignia, a wine with a tremendous track record back to the debut vintage of 1974. It is produced in significant quantities (18,000-20,000 cases) for a wine of such quality.

 

A great achievement, the 1998 Insignia (78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot) is a fabulous wine from what was a far more challenging vintage. Approximately 18,000 cases were made, an amazing quantity in a year that produced far less promising raw materials. Evolved, with a saturated ruby/purple color, it possesses a sumptuous bouquet of smoke, cedar, licorice, and cassis. This full-bodied, fat, succulent effort reveals admirable purity and symmetry, and a soft finish with remarkably deep flavors that caress the palate. It can be drunk now as well as over the next 15-16 years. Wine Advocate #132 Dec 2000

1999 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
List Price: $168.00      Your Price: $147.84
Quantity in Stock: 2

(91 Points) There are 15,000 cases of the 1999 Insignia, a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Malbec. The core of this offering tends to come from Rutherford-grown fruit. The saturated dense purple-colored 1999 offers a tight but promising nose of incense, spice box, black fruits, and vanilla. This elegant, stylish, and medium to full-bodied offering is made in a more French-like, finesse style than such blockbusters as 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1994. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and consume it over the following 15-18.   Wine Advocate #142, Aug 2002

2000 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $156.00    Your Price: $137.28
Quantity in Stock: 2

(91 Points) The 2000 Insignia (20,000 cases) is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. A strong effort for the vintage, it possesses a dense ruby/purple color in addition to a powerful nose of licorice, espresso roast, and black currants, medium to full body, a lush mid-palate, and a sweet, concentrated finish with no hard edges. It is a forward, precocious Insignia to enjoy over the next ten years.

The bulk of the fruit for the Insignia cuvee comes from vineyards on Manley Lane as well as the Stags Leap area. All the Petit Verdot and Malbec utilized is from the vineyard adjacent to the winery. The Insignia cuvee has been one of Napa’s great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines since its inception in 1974. In the eighties, this offering seemed to fall off a bit, but it was phenomenal in the seventies, and most of those vintages are still alive. Moreover, it has been absolutely brilliant since 1991. Remarkably,18,000-20,000 cases of this wine are produced in top vintages.   Wine Advocate #150, Dec 2003

2001 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
List Price: $320.00      Sale Price: $260.00
Quantity in Stock: 12

(99 Points)  The sensational, prodigious 2001 Insignia Proprietary Red Wine (89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec) has never performed better. Still extremely youthful with a dense purple color as well as a beautiful bouquet of cedar, charcoal, incense, creme de cassis and black cherry jam, fabulous intensity, a multidimensional mouthfeel and a skyscraper-like texture, it is a Napa classic that is still very youthful and belies its age of ten years. Like its stablemate, it should age impeccably for 35 or more years. Kudos to Joseph Phelps Vineyards!

Two brilliant wines from Joseph Phelps Vineyards, the Insignia is closer to drinkability, but it still needs another five years whereas the Backus Vineyard requires 7-8. Both are 35-40 year wines for those with cold cellars and youthful genes.  Wine Advocate #195, Jun 2011

2002 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $360.00    Sale Price: $300.00
Quantity in Stock: 6

(98 Points) The 2002 Insignia (a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec) is performing even better than it did post-bottling. A cross Napa County blend of some of their finest vineyard sources, it offers a super-sweet nose of creme de cassis, charcoal, incense, cedar and forest floor, full body and silky tannins. It is one of the few Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends that is world-class, capable of 30+ years of cellaring, and made in abundant quantities (between 8,000-15,000 cases). I remember tasting the 1974 Insignia in the late 1970's and stating that it would need to be drunk in its first 5-6 years of life. Wrong. That wine, which is now 38 years of age, is still a beauty!

The Backus Vineyard is planted in the red soils of the steep hillsides of Oakville, overlooking Screaming Eagle and Rudd Estate. Joseph Phelps’ most famous wine, which first debuted in 1974, is their proprietary red wine blend called Insignia.  Wine Advocate #201, Jun 2012
 
2003 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa

(94 Points)  The 2003 Insignia (15,000 cases) performed much better this year than last, when I tasted it right after bottling. A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and the rest Malbec and Merlot, it offers up attractive aromas of licorice, black currants, espresso roast, and background toasty oak. Full-bodied, opulent, and rich with outstanding depth, purity, and harmony, sweet tannin, and a long finish, it is approachable now, but will easily last for 20 years.   Wine Advocate #168, Dec 2006

2005 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa

(95 Points) Since 2004, 100% of the Bordeaux varietals used in the Insignia proprietary blend have been from estate vineyards. The beautiful, dense ruby/purple-tinged 2005 Insignia (a 12,500-case blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec) possesses sweet aromas of black cherries, cassis, chocolate, camphor, and a subtle hint of roasted herbs. Medium to full-bodied and elegant, with a European style imposed on the rich, velvety, California fruit, this cuvee will benefit from several years of bottle age, and should easily keep for three decades.

The Freestone Vineyard, a 100-acre, cool climate site planted on the Sonoma Coast by Joseph Phelps, is finally coming into production, offering consumers a bevy of different Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. There are three Chardonnay offerings, all of which emphasize the minerality and citrusy characteristics of this varietal with little intrusive oak, despite the fact that they are barrel-fermented and aged primarily in new French oak. The Cabernet Sauvignon program consists of three wines, the Cabernet Sauvignon, their famous proprietary red wine called Insignia, and their single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the western hillsides of Oakville, called Backus. The regular Cabernet is a solidly made, reliable effort usually comprised of about 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot, and occasionally Malbec. The single vineyard offering comes from Oakville’s Backus Vineyard. There are typically 1,500-2,500 cases produced from this biodynamically farmed vineyard. Wine Advocate # 180 Dec 2008

2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $199.00    Sale Price: $159.00
Quantity in Stock: 6

(94-96 Points) Since 2004, 100% of the Bordeaux varietals used in the Insignia proprietary blend have been from estate vineyards. There are just under 15,000 cases of the 2006 Insignia, a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. Made in a dense, full-bodied, muscular style, it is less charming than the 2005, with high tannin, extract, and richness. The blackberry and cassis characteristics are accompanied by notions of damp earth, subtle oak, licorice, and forest floor. It, too will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age, and should drink well for two decades or more.

Menu
Selection of Cheese:  Beemster Gouda, Parmigiano-Reggiano
Duck confit with Chinese five spice and sweet potato soufflé
Chocolate Covered Bacon

This event is limited to 15 tasters and the price of this tasting/dinner is $275 + tax (or one bottle of Insignia at a similar value) for reservations call 954-523-9463.

 

A brief history of Joseph Phelps:

Joseph Phelps, a Colorado construction magnate, came to the Napa Valley to build wineries for others.  Like everyone else who loves wine and visits this beautiful valley, he quickly succumbed to the romance of it all.  In 1972 he purchased a 600-acre ranch in the hills east of St. Helena and began planting it to different varietals.  The wooden cellars, on a west-facing slope of the home property, are a tribute to two arts, architecture and winemaking.  Two pavilions are joined by a closed bridge housing offices.  One pavilion contains fermentors - steel in an otherwise woodsy environment - and the other holds lofty racks of French oak barrels.  In addition to the home ranch, Phelps now owns vineyards in Stags Leap, Rutherford, Yountville, and the Carneros District.

The first Phelps wine to appear in the marketplace was a 1973 Johannisberg Riesling. That it was an immediate success was no surprise; the winemaker was Walter Schug, born and trained in Germany. Schug left the winery in 1983 to devote full time to his new venture, Schug Cellars. (His assistant from almost the beginning, Craig Williams, assumed the reigns as winemaker.)  The winery gradually began to produce a wide range of interesting, high-quality varietals - not only from its own ranch, but also from selected growers in the Napa Valley and in Sonoma County as well.  In fact, Phelps once made one of California's best Zinfandels from eighty-year-old vines in Sonoma's Alexander Valley.  However, the winery gradually began to trim its number of offerings and concentrate primarily on the Napa Valley for fruit sources.

The winery's truly monumental wines are usually red and are based on the cabernet grape.  In each vintage Phelps produces a regular Napa Valley Cabernet from grapes grown on several of the Phelps ranches as well as grapes purchased from independent growers.  Some of the Phelps regular Cabs have been outstanding; the 1975 (probably the winery's best ever), the 1977, and the 1980 were at the top of their price class in the Napa Valley.  In the middle 1980's Phelps acquired and developed two new vineyards in the Napa Valley - one in Rutherford along Manley Lane in the heart of the bench area and the other in the Stag's Leap District immediately north and adjacent to the historic Fay Vineyard.  These two ranches have provided the backbone for the Phelps regular Cabernet as well as a Merlot that was first produced in 1989.  Although we felt that the Phelps regular Cabernets had slipped in the years since 1980, beginning with the 1992 they have been again among the best in their price class.  In fact, the recent Cabernets are probably the best regular bottlings produced at this winery in nearly twenty years.  Although a portion of the fruit is purchased from independent growers, over half comes from the winery's Las Rocas Vineyard in the Stags Leap District and the winery's Manley Lane Vineyard in the Rutherford Bench area.  Really special, however, have been the vineyard-designated Cabernets (one from the Backus Vineyard and one from the Eisele Vineyard) and the super special Insignia bottling.  The Eisele bottling was discontinued after the 1991 vintage, because - unfortunately for Phelps - Milton Eisele sold his legendary vineyard to Bart Araujo (The Araujo Estate Cabernet has already garnered enormous critical acclaim under its new owners).   The Insignia bottling - the flagship of the winery and the first Meritage blend ever made in California (1974) - has been consistently fine for two decades.  However, beginning with the 1989 vintage, it has clearly been in the top handful of red wines produced in every vintage.

Over the last few years things have been turned upside down at Phelps Winery.  When long time president Tom Sheldon and long time winemaker Craig Williams were both forced to retire in May of 2008, a lawsuit followed.  Unfortunately Tom Sheldon died in July of 2008 of brain cancer, but both men were awarded their 40% stake in the winery that was given to them by Joseph Phelps in 1999.     In a binding judgment issued Sept. 9, 2008 retired Judge William Bettinelli ruled that Mr. Shelton is entitled to a total of $12,264,000 in damages and Mr. Williams is owed $11,856,000, according to the ruling.  Their attorney stated for the record; "Everyone in Napa knows what Tom Shelton and Craig Williams did for the Phelps brand and the Phelps family," said Hainline. "It is time for the Phelps family to do the right thing, honor their agreements and acknowledge how these two men made monumental contributions to enhance the status and reputation of Joseph Phelps Vineyards and their work was what made the winery successful." 

This lawsuit left a bad taste in the mouth of many people in Napa Valley, but on my visit to Joseph Phelps winery in July of 2009 the staff had their best foot forward and were moving on, trying to look toward the future.  Ashley Hepworth was promoted to winemaker in 2008, she has been with the winery since 1999 and we don't think that the style of the wines will change.

 

2013 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $265.00    Your Price: $233.20
Quantity in Stock: 6

(98+ points) The 2013 Insignia (their 40th vintage) is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. This wine is aged 24 months in 100% new French oak barrels, and the production can vary from just over 10,000 cases to nearly 20,000 cases in a very abundant vintage. There were 12,300 cases produced in 2013, and this vintage of Insignia is certainly going to turn out to be one of the great ones. The wine offers a stunning inky blue/purple color, a gorgeous nose of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, pen ink, graphite, new saddle leather and barrique. The wine has fabulous concentration, a full-bodied, multi-layered mouthfeel, and tremendous finish with moderate tannin. It’s interesting to note that the Phelps winemaking staff had been gradually reducing the amount of Merlot in this wine over recent vintages. The 2013 should hit its peak in 5-7 years and last for 35-50. Wine Advocate (Issue # 227 - Oct 2016)

2012 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa

List Price: $240.00      Sale Price: $190.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

 

Wine Watch Review: Dark rich black currant and cassis berry fruit with notes of espresso dark chocolate, a very rich and well endowed bouquet.  This wine is all estate grown from several appellations in Napa.  This wine is big and chewy on the tongue with a good amount of dark dense ripe black cherry and currant berry fruit, a firm hand of tannins and a long finish, echoing the earth and spice from the nose through the finish, even better on the second day.  Finish 50+  Most Excellent +

 96 Points - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate

The flagship wine of the estate in reds is their Insignia, which has been one of the great Bordeaux blends made in California since the debut vintage in 1974. It usually has 30+ years aging potential, even in lighter vintages, of which the 2012, 2013 and 2014 are decidedly not. The 2012 Proprietary Red Insignia, a final blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and the rest Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc all from estate vineyards, was aged 24 months in 100% new French oak... and it’s a fabulous, classic Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky purple to the rim, with notes of lead pencil shavings, incense, camphor, blackberry and creme de cassis, the wine is full-bodied, offering a multi-layered, textural, skyscraper-like mouthfeel, terrific purity, density and richness. All of this is achieved without a sense of heaviness or anything aggressive. This is a beauty to drink now and over the next 30 years.
 97 Points & Top 100 Wines In 2015 - JamesSuckling.com

Top 100 Wines In 2015 List: Amazing aromas of blueberry, blackberry, mineral and bark. Complex nose. Full body plus super integrated tannins with superb balance and depth. Coffee and chocolate too. Very long and mind-bending. A tribute to the vintage. Drink or hold. A long life ahead of it.

 96 Points - Antonio Galloni's Vinous

Just bottled, the 2012 Insignia is rich, voluptuous and racy to the core. Raspberry jam, mocha, wild flowers, spices and espresso are laced together in a sensual, enveloping Insignia that should drink well with minimal cellaring. I imagine the 2012 will reward readers with a long drinking window of pure pleasure. Today, it is a total knock-out.

Blend and Grape Sources: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot, 3% Malbec and 1% Cabernet Franc from 100% estate-grown Napa Valley vineyards: Stags Leap District (28% Las Rocas Vineyard and 11% Barboza Vineyard), Napa Valley (22% Suscol Vineyard), Rutherford (16% Banca Dorada Vineyard), Oak Knoll District (12% Yountville Vineyard) and St. Helena (11% Home Ranch Vineyard).

Appellations: Napa Valley
Harvest Dates: September 13 - October 15, 2013
Winemaking Data: Vineyards were carefully monitored throughout the growing season for optimum, even ripening; keeping close attention on Insignia designated blocks. Grapes were held separate during picking, sorting and fermentation. This wine was aged for 24 months in 100% new French oak from coopers Taransaud, Dargaud Jaegle, Nadalie, Demptos, Marcel Cadet and Sylvain before bottling in January 2016.
Winemaker Notes: First produced from the 1974 vintage, 2013 Insignia marks the 40th vintage of our flagship Napa Valley wine. Deeply pigmented, the 2013 Insignia opens with heady blackberry and plum aromatics laced with baking spices, cardamom and espresso. Focused and fresh, this exceptionally concentrated wine showcases elegant tannin structure and a silky mouthfeel layered with dark fruit, sweet vanilla bean, cracked black pepper and bittersweet chocolate.
Vintage Notes: The 2013 growing season proved to be an excellent year in Napa Valley. It was slightly warmer than 2012, resulting in an overall earlier growing season. Lower than normal rainfall paired with moderate spring weather brought with it early bud break and bloom. Sunny skies throughout the summer months led to early veraison and harvest. Warm daytime temperatures followed by cool nights prior to harvest produced evenly ripened fruit with ideal hang time. There is great purity of fruit in the 2013 wines, good structure and overall an excellent winegrowers vintage. The first Insignia fruit was harvested from our Home Ranch in St. Helena on September 13th and the last from our Banca Dorada Vineyard in Rutherford on October 15th.


2009 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa
Price: $210.00    Your Price: $184.80
Quantity in Stock: 2

(93-96 Points) The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Insignia is a big, generous wine that covers the palate with waves of dark red fruit. Today it is beautifully expressive and opulent yet also well balanced. An explosive finish rounds things out in style. This looks to be a relatively approachable Insignia. Floral, spicy notes round out the finish. In 2009 the blend is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot and 4% Merlot. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. Wine Advocate #198, Dec 2011

Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2013 (Magnum)
Price: $181.50    Sale $159.72

Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2013
Price: $81.50       Sale $71.72

(91 Points) "The Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, is a strong effort from Joseph Phelps and possibly could turn out to be one of the best generic Napa bottlings they have made in many a year. There are 23,000 cases of this wine, which is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, almost all of it coming from their estate vineyards. The wine saw about 45% new oak (55% French, 45% American) and is opaque purple in color, with a classic Cabernet expression of tobacco leaf, blackcurrants, licorice and Christmas fruitcake. It is full-bodied, dense, opulent and concentrated, especially for the introductory Cabernet Sauvignon in the Joseph Phelps stable. No doubt, the fruit coming from 100% estate vineyards has certainly added quality to this offering. This should drink well for up to 20 or more years. " The Wine Advocate

Joseph Phelps Freestone Chardonnay 2014
Price: $45.00       Sale $39.60

Fragrant orange blossom, citrus peel and ripe green apple scents are a hallmark of this wine. Bright and fresh with firm acidity and balanced minerality, the 2014 Chardonnay is overflowing with Gravenstein apple, vanilla bean and Kaffir lime notes followed by a long lemon creme finish.

Joseph Phelps Freestone Pinot Noir 2014
Price: $45.00       Sale $39.60

Joseph Phelps Freestone Pinot Noir 2013
Price: $45.00       Sale $39.60

The 2013 Pinot Noir opens with aromatic red cherry and raspberry along with savory spices, fresh cut herbs and floralnotes. Expressive red plum, currants and cranberries dominate the palate followed by white pepper and lasting Freestone spiceelements. Beautifully textured with balanced acid and tannin leading to a long sweet vanilla finish.

Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc Napa 2014
Price: $39.00       Sale $34.32

This latest vintage of Sauvignon Blanc has aromatic notes of citrus zest, crushed rock, honeysuckle and ripe melon. The palate is filled with lemon cream, vibrant pineapple and green apple with hints of stone fruit. The brightly focused acidity leads to a balanced, lingering finish.