2013 Phelps Insignia and 2003 Gruaud Larose

[AlexR]

I’ve sampled plenty of wines this past week thanks to Vinexpo. For instance there was an evening tasting of the wines of Spain with 110 bodegas represented. For goodness sakes, there was even an Albanian stand at Vinexpo, not that I made a point of trying wines from that country (OK, maybe I should have, but I had other priorities).

Last night some friends visiting from the Napa Valley (working for Domaine Chandon and Newton) came over to my place for dinner. We had a number of wines, including 3 for the aperitif (I might add that there were 9 of us). The 2010 Sancerre "La Bourgeoise" from Henri Bourgeois was aromatic and clean, but not very impressive. 2010 white Château Simone (AOC Palette) was interesting, with waxy, honeyed aromas and a unique kind of minerality, but was a little musty and old-fashioned in style. 2011 Schloss Vollrads spätlese comes in a unique bottle with a glass stopper rather than a cork. I unfortunately found it rather insipid.

We had a Bordeaux Clairet (halfway between rosé and red) from the négociant Pierre Chenau with the first course (tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil) because this wine is not very well-known outside Bordeaux and also because it was a very hot day, close to 37°C. At a retail price of under 3 euros a bottle, no one could complain.

Four red wines were served blind with the main course, entrecôte à la bordelaise (cooked over vine cuttings with a sauce of bone marrow, shallot, and parsley). The first wine confused most of us, except for one person who correctly guessed the grape variety (Grenache). This was a 2001 Santa Cruz de Artazu from Navarra (Spain) bottled by Lorrein. This was a very classy wine we all liked. This was followed by 2013 Joseph Phelps Insignia. We all thought it was a California Cab, and a very refined one at that. This wine has quite a reputation and we felt that it largely lived up to it. The question with such wines is: if it’s so good less than 4 years after the vintage, how will it age – not that this is necessarily a benchmark of quality… The last red wine was a 2003 Gruaud Larose. My young friend guessed 2001 Saint Julien, which I thought was pretty good. In any event, this was neither top-heavy, nor fat, nor low in acidity. Indeed, I thought the acidity was rather high. In any event, this 2003 Gruaud had good Cabernet Sauvignon fruit and graphite nuances on the nose. It was slightly less appealing on the palate and suffered from being served after the Insignia, which made it seem thin in comparison… Still a good wine that is best enjoyed sooner rather than later.

We had a bottle each of Lanson white and pink Champagne with a strawberry and mascarpone tart. A good time was had by all .

Best regards,
Alex R.

[AKR]

Insignia has become very expensive in the USA, sadly.

[RPCV]

That is so true, I recall magnums of the '91 and '94 Insignia purchased for around $110. Phelps Insignia, Monte Bello, Togni, Dunn and Montelena estate still get me excited.

[jckba]

Price increases are really one of my biggest pet peeves in wine and my favorite example just so happens to be Phelps Insignia. Back when the 2001 and 2002 Phelps Insignia were in the market in 2004 and 2005 respectively, I purchased one bottle of each at $85 per bottle plus tax based largely on the fact that they were well reviewed and seemed to be of the upper echelon. Fast forward to the end of 2005 and the 2002 Phelps Insignia was named the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year and the price went right through the roof (and then again after Parker rerated it 100 points in 2013), but it was not until the 2003 Phelps Insignia began showing up in stores in 2006 priced in and around $125 and I was annoyed as that was comfortably more than I was willing to spend. And then when they went to 100% estate fruit with the 2004, the price jumped once again to $150, needless to say that these aggressive price increases ensured that my days of buying Phelps Insignia came to an end. And now it hovers around $200 per bottle for current vintages.

[AKR]

I don't know if its true but I've heard there is just oceans of it still at the estate, and they push hard to sell it to visitors, obviously at the full price without needing to share any slice with the distribution system.