Adam Kincaid

9.6

Was handed a glass of this and without even knowing anything was incredibly impressed. Thought it to be a French wine too, had no inkling it was Napa Cab. Beautiful purple colors that showcases a robust and complex bouquet of blackberries, dark cherry, tobacco, and chocolate. Has some spices too but they are pinned back by the fruit. Medium tannins with medium+ acids, super smooth and well balanced. Vanilla cola, cedar, black currants and more tobacco and chocolate give it a robust and lively blend. Great finish! — 6 months ago

Joe DAscoli

9.5

Huge wine. Took several hours to open up but had intense and beautiful blue and black fruit aromas.

— 7 months ago

Jess

9.2

Medium-deep ruby-garnet color.
Aromas of baked cherry, tomato leaf.
Dry. Flavors of dried cherry, tomato leaf, roasted herbs, spices, floral. Medium-rich, velvety tannins. Beautiful!

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 4/5
Balance: 5/5
Finish: 5/5 — 9 months ago

John Malcolm

9.2

Beautiful wine. Slightly prefer the 1999, which I had last night. The ‘99 was musty and tasted lots of mushrooms. The ‘01 is still earthy, but fruitier. Dark fruits, with a bit of tobacco and cedar. — 10 months ago

Gor

9.3

Sweet nose of ripe blackberries, black cherries, plum, licorice and a hint of herbs. Not much complexity but what beautiful concentration and purity of expression against soft tannin structure and balanced acidity. Good stuff and will likely continue aging@for another decade,. — 4 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.4

2009 vintage. Classy nose with blackberry, cedar wood, graphite and hint of roses. Perfectly balanced, combining power and true finesse. Very long too. A beautiful Gruaud Larose. — 6 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Lovely soft-edged blue fruit. Blackberry and an iron roundness. All kinds of savory stuff in the middle, but really classy, with beautiful plush mouthfeel. A soft and salty character and lovely poised length. Spectacular — 7 years ago

with BOT, Matt and 2 others

Conrad Green

9.7

Looks almost rose. Quite dark. Tiny bubbles, very gentle. Glorious nose of resolved pinkish fruit. On the palate a beautiful strawberry soft and precise mid palate with delicate acidity. Long and phenomenal. — 8 years ago

with Paul and Matt

Alder Yarrow

Wine Blogger Vinography

9.5

Beautiful. Green herbs and blackberry bramble give way to tight stony blackberry and dried flowers. — 10 years ago

Jeff Hollinden

9.9

Wow, what a beautiful wine. Well balanced, drinking nicely. — 11 years ago

Jeremy Pauli

9.4

Simply beautiful. Wish we had more than 1 bottle in the cellar — 2 years ago

Brian Reedy

9.4

Classic Tuscan. Beautiful fruit. Soft tannic finish delicious — 7 months ago

with Sarah

Jay Kline

9.5

Girl. Sup? Shoot. This was utterly brilliant tonight. Classic Bordeaux yet, even at 26 years young, somewhat precocious still. A beautiful mix of deep, dark and red fruit with currants, blackberries and cherries with chocolate, purple flowers, green pepper, tobacco, earth, leather and awesomeness. Plenty of structure to keep this strutting for years to come. Fabulous balance and complexity. Drink now through 2047+. — 9 months ago

Conrad Green

9.9

From Mag. An absolute wow of a bottle. The nose is crazy intense, lucid and profound. Dark plum fruit with a whiff of band aid, iron, black pepper, a tangy meatiness. Loads of delicate floral notes floating around, but a soulful and pristine bottle. As fresh as an early 2000’s bottle but so much age and precision going on. Wonderful. Just spectacular. — 9 months ago

Howard Schoenfeld

9.5

Dark red. Big beautiful nose of red fruit spice. Rich like a Bordeaux cassis spice tobacco. — 5 years ago

Personal Fowl

9.4

A beautiful wine that ended a run of fantastic Phelps Insignia vintages. Unfortunately, more recent vintages have not met this standard. — 6 years ago

Alex Lallos

Owner No Limit Fine Wines, Private Wine Consultant

9.3

Tasted at the new Geyserville tasting room. What a beautiful setting. The new silver oaks are really terrific wines. I particularly liked this 2014 Alexander valley. It was so true to its Cabernet roots and should glide effortlessly in the cellar for many many years — 7 years ago

Moin Rastegar,C.S.W

9.2

Beautiful is a great name for this wine! — 8 years ago

David L

9.5

07' Ornellaia Bolgheri ( Bordeaux blend). Predominately Cabernet. I'm also guessing it's mostly all new oak. Slightly tannic & a little heavy on the oak. That absolutely subsides with a decent decanting . Must decant, so the fruit can move forward in the wine. Layers of elegant & beautiful black fruit, with hints of tobacco & dark chocolate. It just lays on the back of your palate for 30+ seconds. A little more patience/time?? I would love to try this again in 3-5 years. Recommend highly!

I've got to get some more of the great vintages of this! My better half..."We need to get some of this" 😉 — 9 years ago

Jen Tietz

9.9

Drinking so well. Red fruits, leather, dried herbs, cedar. Lots of color still. Freshness, tannins present, beautiful acidity. Really solid. — 12 years ago

Bruce Dunbar

9.2

Beautiful: dark, quiet, powerful. Nothing extraneous. Lead with minerals, graphite, tobacco on top of a layer of dry black and red fruit. Tannins were mild. Fit the room (The Grill, NYC) and the meal (Thanksgiving) perfectly. — 7 months ago

Frank B

9.0

Very guava, interesting crisp and tart, not overly grassy — 7 months ago

Jarrod McCann

9.7

Beautiful St Estephe 23 yo and not yet peaked. Fresh berry fruit, red and blue, chokecherry, cigar box,mocha, thyme, cinnamon, crushed granite, — 9 months ago

Stuart Pollack

9.7

Beautiful Cabernet Franc—very complex. Leather, tar, and earth. — 9 months ago

KD

9.1

Medium straw colour with a beautiful mousse. On the nose, lemon, pear, yeast and toast. Nice light body with perfect tiny bubbles that made the perlage super velvety in the mouth, a nice contrast to the crisp acidity. Notes of asian pear, white peach and apple, lemon and at times almost like ethanol and some toast with lingering hazelnut and ginger on the long finish. Not sure if our bottle was slightly off with the ethanol taste that came up once in a while. Will have to try another bottle. For science. — 3 years ago

Joseph Barsky

9.5

2012 Vintage. 15.2% Alcohol. 78% Syrah, 14% Grenache, 8% Mourvèdre. Several of us did a zoom wine tasting and three of us had this bottle. It is singing now. Loved it. I was too busy talking and Gail took advantage.... — 5 years ago

Julian Gross

9.2

This is just a delicious brut rosé, really one of the best out there that isn’t four figures...beautiful fruit that melts on your tongue, just excellent — 6 years ago

Paul J

8.9

Young wine with mild OH on the nose paired with very nice fruit. Plums, prunes, and blackberry on the palate, but lighter than most cabs. Nice finish, and the recommendation was spot on as this wine definitely punches above it's weight at $20+. Curious as to other opinions. — 8 years ago

Kelly Carey

9.3

Love this wine. Very smooth. — 9 years ago

John Van Trijp

9.5

What a beautiful wine! 1966 and still full of life! Wooow — 10 years ago