Vanessa

9.0

Ruby with secondary garnet hues. Strong, red fruit character with molasses, licorice, anise, vanilla, nutmeg, white pepper notes. Palate is tart with noticeable tannins. Blend is Tempranillo, Garnacho, Graciano, and Mazuelo. ABV 13%. — 6 years ago

with Deked1

Matthew Robinson

9.0

Fresh, right-bank Bordeaux Merlot — 6 years ago

Jörgen Lindström Carlvik

Owner, Brix Wine Consultants

8.9

Actually my first ever Lauer. Cannot believe that myself..:: served blind, I started off in Rheinhessen (maybe Wittman?) but finally decided upon a GV from Alzinger in Wachau. Liked it very much but lacked Mosel tension, slate minerality and racy acidity impressive concentration. Very good wine, hoping to be something else? — 7 years ago

Neal Krishna Devaraj

9.1

Chalk earth five day old raspberries. — 8 years ago

Phil Forzley

10

85 merlot 10 cab 5 malbec — 9 years ago

Maya Kaczorowski

9.0

Slightly sweeter than I expected — 10 years ago

with Robin

Michael Patrone

8.9

Not much depth but decent — 10 years ago

Lois Fancher

9.0

All of the flavors I live in a Bordeaux! — 11 years ago

with Al

Patrick Kanaley

9.2

Fresh and crisp. Fruity, but not overwhelmingly so. Really nice, light white. — 11 years ago

Mitch Roberts

9.2

Really good Bordeaux blend. — 13 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Been awhile since I pulled out an Insigna.

The 03 Pichon Lalande is the better wine and steak pairing. However, Napa Cabernet is the choice to finish steak and enjoy on its own after. You never want to do Napa before Bordeaux IMHO. It’s much harder to adjust from sweeter to something more earthy.

Enjoyed the 05 as my score reflects. I don’t remember it being as sweet as it was in previous tastings. Still quite good. It just tipped my sweet scale a little too much.

The body is, rich, lush & round. It’s achieved good evolution after 13 years in bottle and will continue to improve over the next 6-8 years and last another 15 years. As I mentioned, the fruit was ripe & sweet. Blackberries, black plum, black raspberries, plums, hints of blueberries and strawberries haunting the backend. Rich, dark earth, Rutherford dusty tannins and dry soils, purple cola, touch of fresh tobacco & graphite, light baking spices of; cinnamon, dash of clove, nutmeg and vanillin, anise to black licorice, saddle-wood, used leather, dry stems, some dry, crushed rocks/limestone with red, dark, purple and blue florals. The acidity round and nicely executed. The finish was similar wire to wire. It’s, lush, rich, elegant, touch too sweet, polished, well balanced & knitted with a soft, persistent, dark spice on the long set. Very enjoyable second bottle.

Photos of; Joseph Phelps Winery & sloping estate vines, inside lounge are with views of the back side, tasting terrace and front lobby/salon area upon entering past check in. — 6 years ago

with Christina and James

Joe Gillies

9.4

Huge smiles for this wine! Drinking wonderfully now. Still has several years left in its peak drinking window. Elegant smooth black and blue fruits with creamy chocolate. Excellent! — 7 years ago

Saman Hosseini

Writer Maison Abattoir

9.1

All zest at first, develops firm yellow orchard fruit, orange oil, and anise with time, mineral throughout and saline on the finish but pure, not microbial. Paired with brick chicken.
— 8 years ago

Park Si Young

9.5

Natural Wine — 9 years ago

Mike Mayer

9.4

Wonderful nose of dark fruit, oak and cinnamon. Fantastic tastes of blueberries, blackberries, cassis, baking spices and oak. A bold wine with solid tannins that are still working to put on silk gloves. This is a blend of grapes from all 15 AVA's in Napa back in 2010. Probably has another decade or more in terms of optimal bottle life. Steve Reynold's at his best. — 9 years ago

with Lisa

Alex Papanicolaou

9.4

Ganevat for the win! — 10 years ago

Paul Todd

9.5

Jammy fruity and delicious. Buy 2, 1 is not enough. — 11 years ago

Benjamin Keator

9.3

Very rich full bodied wine. A blend of 13 different Alsatian grapes. — 11 years ago

with Weston

Bridget Meagher

9.6

Wine Spec wine 0f the day 10-21-13 — 13 years ago

Cullen Perry

9.0

super interesting expression, not too much toast, lemon, good acid, amber color — 6 years ago

Inseon Hwang

9.0

Very approachable St E. Dark cherry, licorice and barnyard. Medium body. Drinking nicely. — 6 years ago

Neel Master

9.2

Love this one. Strawberry delight. — 7 years ago

Andrew Neblett

9.3

Nice slight fizz. Bright fruit. Medium body. Easy drinking. — 8 years ago

Craig Williams

9.3

Disgorged August ‘13; an absolutely unique Champagne experience with its solera approach to assembling the base wine. Complex, layered, oxidative and long. — 8 years ago

Rob Rob

9.3

Great wine, — 9 years ago

Osandi Robinson

9.1

And another one. 👌🏾🍷 — 10 years ago

Robert Toro

9.0

Finely structured! — 10 years ago

Morgan Thompson

9.5

Near perfect rose. Light, not too sweet but not too dry. Could drink all day! — 11 years ago

Kaushik Banerjee

9.0

Refreshing, off dry white with just the right touch of fizz. Best $13 value in several months. Nicer on day 1 chilled. — 11 years ago

Richard Lewis

9.2

Restrained, forest floor, could have seen many more years... — 13 years ago