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2010 Joseph Phelps Insignia

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RATINGS

97Wine Enthusiast

This is, as always, a gorgeous wine, rich, balanced & delicious... classic Napa Valley ripeness with blackberry jam, plum, dark chocolate & sweet oak. Plush & velvety doesn't begin to do justice. Despite fabulous lushness, a wine to age...

96+ Stephen Tanzer

Dark plums, graphite, pencil shavings, smoke & licorice all jump from the glass... tannins are sweet, layered & impeccably balanced, which makes me think it will enjoy a long drinking window once it softens... a beautiful, silky Insignia...

95Robert M. Parker Jr.

...gorgeously intense bouquet of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, black currants, blackberries, and subtle smoke and foresty aromas jumps from the glass of this full-bodied, rich, concentrated wine...

94Wine Spectator

Firm, dense and deeply concentrated, this offers a powerful thrust of flavors, with mocha- and espresso-laced blackberry, black licorice and cedar notes, revving up on the finish. Pure, driven and persistent, this seems set for a long life.

93James Suckling

Aromas of blueberries, chocolate and licorice follow through to a full body, with soft tannins and a fresh finish.

REGION

United States, California, Napa Valley

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,