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2016 Joseph Phelps, Insignia, Napa Valley
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Start Your Wine Collection with 2016 Joseph Phelps, Insignia, Napa Valley
Begin your portfolio with a prestigious wine that has a history of growth.- Enjoy fully managed, secure storage facilities with insurance coverage.
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Why We're Buying
Few wines have done more for Napa Valley than Insignia. The brainchild of Joseph Phelps, Insignia was the first California blend of traditional Bordeaux grapes produced under a proprietary label. The debut signaled a tectonic shift in the industry. Napa Valley was no longer imitating great wine; it was making it. The 2016 Insignia marks Phelp's latest triumph. It contains 84 cabernet sauvignon with trace amounts of petit verdot, malbec, and cabernet franc that aged for two years in 100 new French oak. The result is a supremely dense and intense red wine with juicy layers of blackberries, blueberries, black currants, and a kiss of spice and smoke. Add an everlasting finish, and it's easy to see why this vintage earned four 98 and 99-point ratings from critics. In his review, Wilfred Wong wrote, "No matter how many Cabs or clarets I taste in my lifetime, the Joseph Phelps Insignia always stands at the head of the class. It is one of the wines amongst a handful of others that I place in that proverbial ‘desert island’ category. The 2016 vintage is magnificent." The Final Sip: 2016 Insignia stands out as one of the finest versions of this already classic wine.
Critics Scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Is the 2016 Insignia the next 1997? Coming mostly from the Stags Leap region, with the rest from the Home Ranch, this deep purple-colored beauty offers a magical bouquet of crème de cassis, fruitcake, forest floor, tobacco leaf, and toasted spices. It shows even more complexity with time in the glass and is a full-bodied, powerful, ageworthy example of this cuvée that’s going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 25+ years or more.
Wine Spectator
This is laden with dark currant, blackberry and black cherry preserve flavors, infused gently with alder, incense and black tea notes, all carried by a long swath of fine-grained tannins. Hints of warm stone and tobacco gild the finish. Best from 2021 through 2035.
James Suckling
Lovely density and intensity with dark berries, blueberries and inky undertones with hints of spice, chocolate and walnuts. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a flavorful finish. The texture and length are fantastic here. Complex. Hints of smoky wood at the end. This needs three to five years more in bottle age. Exciting wine. Try after 2022.
Wine Enthusiast
This is a lengthy, powerful blend of 84 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Petit Verdot and 3 each of Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Together they coalesce as one seamless, complex experience of black currant, brambly berry and black pepper, with accents of graphite, pencil and cedar. Robust in tannin and youthful energy, it will benefit from aging. Enjoy 2026–2031.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled in January 2019, the 2016 Insignia is a blend of 84 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Petit Verdot, 3 Cabernet Franc and 1 Malbec, aged for 24 months in 100 new French oak barrels. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose is a little reticent to begin, needing a fair bit of coaxing to reveal beautifully beguiling notions of wild blueberries, warm blackberries, black currant cordial, cloves and cedar chest with nuances of camphor, yeast extract, charcuterie and candied violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has fantastic elegance and depth, revealing loads of subtle floral, black fruit and earthy layers with a firm, very finely grained texture and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length.
Decanter
Made by longtime winemaker Ashley Hepworth, Joseph Phelps 'Insignia' is a blue chip stock in the Napa Valley. The wine - first made in 1974 - was the valley’s first proprietary 'Bordeaux blend'. It comes from non contiguous estate vineyards, mostly on the valley floor and lower hillsides. Insignia has a certain old fashioned character. The 2016, a bit oaky at first, is also packed with juicy, dense, sweet berry flavours, plus notes of tobacco and graphite. More than many Insignias when they are young, the 2016 already possesses a wonderful thick softness and length. Drinking Window 2022 - 2045