 |
| Rob Williams - Cabernets and Blends | ||
Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives So here is my wine review for the week of November 12th... JOSEPH PHELPS INSIGNIA 2004
Description: Every year around this time, the annual shipment of Insignia is sent out by the Phelps winery. One of my favorite days of the year is opening the bottle, allowing it to breathe and decant and then savoring every drop of it throughout the day. Named “Wine of the Year,” multiple times by multiple wine publications and perennially scoring 90+ by every major wine reviewer in the world, Insignia is one of the world’s premiere top line red wines consistently. Pound for pound, it is my single most favorite bottle of wine on the planet. This year’s blend is 72% cabernet, 14% merlot, 12$ petit verdot and 2% malbec. How and when I drank it: Friday Afternoon, November 9, 2007. I opened and decanted the bottle at 11am and began drinking at 2:30pm. How to get it: The great thing about Insignia is that it’s one of the rare top-of-the-line red wines that is also totally accessible. Some grocery stores carry it as a top shelf wine, Bevmo almost always has it, any wine merchant worth his reputation will carry it and you can find it on many restaurant wine list (although it’s usually a 300+bottle). Sam’s and Costco regularly also feature the bottle in the low $100s. How Much: At the winery, about $225 per bottle, although it can be found for much cheaper My Thoughts: As soon as I took my first sip I knew Phelps had done it again. The traditional Insignia balance and fullness grabs you right away, complete with the smooth vanilla finish. Some bottles of Insignia feature a bite on the back of the tongue when young, but not this year. The tannins are softened perfectly and subside nicely as the bottle breathes. This is a stunningly good wine and perhaps the best bottle of Insignia since 1997 when it nearly swept Wine of the Year honors.
|
||