Brandon Boesch

9.4

Awesome wine. So much mineral component, earth, sweet, oak. It was served with house made chocolates and paired perfectly. At Caruso’s in Montecito. — a month ago

Suneal Vishnupad

9.6

Not quite as good as I remember it, but still excellent. Graphite, pencil shavings, leather, tobacco. 3+ hour decant. needs lots of time but really special.  — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.8

Tasted blind. Medium deep garnet ruby and medium garnet ruby rim . Quite cool and restrained , again lots of grafite and mineral , dark fruits . This is quite deep and dark spicy cassis , blackberry and sea spray , saline . Quite dense and robust on the palate again , lots of fine but ripe tannins. Very long , dense , cassis , cedar grafite saline finish . This is a complete and great example of 2005 , great balance and enormous length , the longest of all on show here. Drinkable now , but surely it’s best days are in the future , wait another 5 -10 years , will last well a further 20 - 25 if not more . The apex of 2005 ? For me this had to be the Latour , and an archetypal example of Latour no less . 1st place and the gold medal . — 4 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Great vintage for this wine with lots of red cherry, strawberry fruit, earth, spice & floral — 9 months ago

Jenks

9.2

Paired with nothing. Madeira is the desert. — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind. Deep tawny color. Heavy nose with lots of drama going on. Notes of old wet cedar desk, red fruits, pepper, mocha, dark moist earth and some spice. Great structure. Has a perfect balance of fruit that strongly remains in the picture with structure and acidity. Silky, coats the mouth. Might have been the WOTN until the next bottle was poured. — 4 years ago

Anthony Cammarata Jr.

9.0

Takes a while to open but when it does, classic Opus. Less tannin than other years with lots of dark berry flavors. — 6 years ago

with Daniel and Michael

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

I recently had a conversation with a few Joseph Phelps Ambassador’s at Pebble Beach Food & Wine in April. I said, I had every vintage of Insignia back to 2006 in storage. They said, “you should really drink up the 2006.” So, I coravined an 06 last weekend, a taste. I agreed then. But tonight not the case, it shows it still has a fair amount of life. Another 5-8 yrs and perhaps plus.

My Ribcap, a definition of Medium Rare Plus.

The nose reveals floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel, softly layered baking spices, very underrated graphite, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola.

The palate shows well resolved, rounded, velvety M+ tannins. Nicely ripe fruits that are floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel river, softly layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanillin, warm caramel, dark Asian spices with palate burrowing heat, dry tobacco/ leather, cedar, grilled meats, very underrated graphite, sweet tarriness, black licorice, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola, candied to withering; dark, red, blue florals wrapped in liquid violets, epic rainfall acidity, well balanced-structured-toned, elegant finish that lasts minutes and falls on earth & heated spice.

95-96 peaking. — 10 days ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Always great. Fresh and delicious. Deserves more time in the cellar. Another 5 yrs before opening another. — 4 months ago

Todd Leung

9.4

The taste is rich and multi-layered. Let your tongue feel it, and then go deeper until you reach the back of your tongue. It ranges from sweet to sour, and the aroma of the wooden barrel comes out, very intense. — 7 months ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.6

Worth all the accolades it receives. Dry, long, complex. — a year ago

Lauren Young

9.0

Funk on the nose- old books. Needed more time than we had to decant. Barely opening at an hour. Lots of earth, tobacco, but thinner than expected — 4 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Always impressed with this wine in an off vintage showing lots of dark fruits, meat, olive, nice spice, licorice, violet. — 4 years ago

Bruce Leboff

9.4

Drinking magnificently. Ready to go. Lots of life left but really nice. — a month ago

with Michael and David

Conrad Green

9.5

Still fresh but definitely lots of secondary notes. Pear and wet stone and a light sweetness and salinity. Good tension. Excellent — 2 months ago

with Ara and Paul

Tyler Felous

9.2

Lots of chunky sediment. This was delicious. Could have drank the whole bottle but shared among good company — 6 months ago

Ed Chin

9.0

Start of the holiday season. I’m kind of disappointed with this. It came offf as flat almost boring. Just a hint of lemon but mostly bread. Age was not kind to this. — 9 months ago

Robin Bundy

9.5

Full bodied with lots of flavors. A weekend at the shore in Margate, NJ with family. — 3 years ago

Lauren Young

9.0

Solid medium dry sercial; fine predinner — 4 years ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.5

Wow. Brewed coffee. Plums and luxardo cherry. Old but a rare treat. So alive. Almost 45 years young. — 5 years ago