Joseph Phelps Insignia 2016
-
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
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.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: 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. TASTING NOTES: This wine is complete. Its lovely aromas and flavors are impactful and wonderous on the palate. Enjoy its rush of bold, ripe black fruits, and earth with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye topped with minced shallots. (Tasted: February 20, 2020, St. Helena, CA)
-
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.
Cellar Selection -
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.
-
Connoisseurs' Guide
84% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Petit Verdot; 3% Malbec; 3% Cabernet Franc. We may well be accused of being monotonous and even a bit biased in the perennial praise that Insignia earns in these pages, but we would remind that we evaluate every wine blind, and, when all is said, tasted and done, Phelps’s flagship bottling is special, very sophisticated stuff and once again claims a place at the very head of the class. It is complex, it is polished and it is extraordinarly deep with an unsurpassed fusion of fruity richness and grace, and if, as usual, it shows the integral tannins of a wine destined to be very long lived, those short on patience and used to savoring young Cabernets cannot fail to find it other than irresistible even now
-
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.
-
Decanter
This vintage of Insignia accurately reflects the cooler year, and the result is a lifted, energetic showing of this yardstick Napa Valley wine – a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc. Aromas of raspberry compote, black cherry and fresh violets seamlessly transition onto the palate, joining succulent liquorice and cigar box spice. The finish is impressively expansive and lingering. While decidedly modern in style, it is done with a deft touch.
Other Vintages
2019-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Wong
Wilfred -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Wong
Wilfred -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Panel
Tasting -
Suckling
James -
Spirits
Wine & - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine - Vinous
-
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Panel
Tasting -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to crafting world class, estate-grown wines. Founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena in the Napa Valley, the winery now controls and farms nearly 375 acres of vines on eight estate vineyards in St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa Valley. In 1999, the Phelps family added 100 acres of vineyard property near the town of Freestone on the Sonoma Coast, where Phelps now grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Phelps is best known for its flagship Napa Valley blend of red Bordeaux varietals, Insignia, first produced in 1974. Awarded Wine Spectator's "Wine of the Year" in 2005, Insignia is widely regarded as a qualitative benchmark for California winemaking.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.