The 2019 edition of Insignia is the first vintage to include grapes from the new Joseph Phelps vineyard called El Venadito located in the Oak Knoll District.
Insignia opens impressively with an almost heady aroma of red fruit, crème de cassis, fresh tobacco and dried rose petals. The taste is dense and juicy with expressive layers of blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and dark chocolate. A beautiful and dynamic wine with lots of energy, length, complexity and refinement.
98 POINTS
James Suckling
Top 100 Wines of the USA 2022
A very aromatic Insignia with pencil-shaving and graphite highlights to the dark fruit and blackberries. Full-bodied, yet tense and vertical, with very fine tannins that run deep and layered in the wine… fantastic tension and structure.
98 POINTS
Robert Parker
97 POINTS
The Wine Independent
About Joseph Phelps Vineyards
There wasn’t a grape, but plenty of cattle, when Joe Phelps first saw what would become the home of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. However, he fell in love with the 600 hectares, which was actually more than he had initially imagined he would need. There were lots of hills, valleys and oak trees here that spoke to Phelps, who was raised in Colorado.
Joe had left the US Navy and been in his father’s construction company, had grown to be present in California as well. Wine was initially only a kind of hobby project in the form of a little production at home and a steadily growing wine collection. Work and wine were eventually to be intertwined, however, when Joe was given a contract to build a winery. In this way, the idea of his own winery grew, and after an inspirational trip to Italy, there was no turning back. Joe began looking for the ideal place in Napa Valley.
Joseph Phelps Vineyards saw the light of day in 1973 – with big ambitions and just as much patience. 100 hectares of vineyards were planted with the help of Walter Schug, who was hired as winemaker. There was a bit of scattershot at the beginning, as Joe wanted to try most of: Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Gewürztraminer. Joe’s four grown children traveled back and forth from Colorado in the start-up and for the first harvest in 1974.
Over the next four decades, Joe ran the winery and produced, among other things, California’s first single varietal wine on Syrah after inspiration from Côte Rotie and Hermitage, which he loved. At the same time, he was one of the first in California to embrace Rhone wines and experimented with Viognier and various Rhone blends.
Already in 1974, Joe Phelps created the wine that is perhaps the most important legacy he has passed on: Insignia, California’s very first patented Bordeaux-style red blend. The idea was to blend grapes from the best parcels into one wine. That method was to quickly spread to many other producers in Napa Valley and helped raise the good reputation of the entire Napa Valley. Over the years, Phelps put Riesling and Cabernet on the shelf in favor of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and other red Bordeaux varieties. He acquired vineyards in Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap District and Oak Knoll District – all vineyards that would contribute to Insignia and Phelps’ other red wines.
As Joe began to age, Bill Phelps moved to Napa Valley in 1998 and slowly took control, although Joe was still part of the day-to-day duties. In 2008, Bill became director and all four of Joe’s children got seats on the board. Under Bill’s leadership, but with Joe in close collaboration, they moved into new terroir with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from family-owned vineyards on the western Sonoma coast.
Today, the Phelps family owns 425 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley. Each vineyard is carefully selected and has its own personality that brings its own touch to the wines.
