Paul J

9.4

Best bottle yet!! PnP. Dark red color. Sour cherries and green elements on the nose. Sweeter than normal which was nice. Medium depth and full of flavor - burning wood. Great QBR! Sad it’s my last bottle but have the ‘13 vintage in the cellar. — 2 years ago

with Brooke

Mike Saviage

9.4

Reddish tawny, translucent. Nice fruity nose with notes of herbs, red berries, spices, dried brush, some wood. Good fruit with nice balance. Liked this a lot more than I expected I would — 4 years ago

Steve Sánchez

9.6

Nectar of the Gods in a bottle! Beautiful silky tannins, earth, dusty notes, espresso and tobacco, oak, white pepper, slight sage and menthol. On the palate , fruit making way for baking spices, nutmeg and cinnamon. 8 years old now but will get another to hold out for ten year mark.
14.3% — 4 years ago

John W

9.0

Dark ruby coloration. On the nose, dark berries, anise, leather, tobacco and warm spices. On the palate, big fruit right away, dark berry and cherry, with hints of vanilla, oak, raspberry, tobacco and leather. Medium body and nice smooth mouth feel. Long finish with the fruit prevailing. — 5 years ago

Susan Hanners

8.9

Light but full of punch! Tangy dark cherry on the nose, taste is elegant, lightly stays with you in a magical way — 6 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a bottle with a nice fill and solid cork. Tawny color. Dense. Exotic nose. Notes of plum, black cherries, old wood desk, tobacco, leather saddle, dark soil and a little menthol. Improved over 5 hours as it got more air. Long finish. A truly great aged bottle of HB. — 6 years ago

Chris B.

9.0

Strong, traditional Tempranillo with a little bit of a twist. I really enjoyed the wood burning stove aromas. Big but well-rounded tannins, surprisingly present fruit and acidity, and then a delectable current of grilled steak, bloody and rare. A bargain at the price. — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.8

Dark scarlet color with a deep center. Notes of black cherry, cola, roses, cassis, some spice and a little wood char. Amazing perfume in the nose. Smooth and silky in the mouth. Lots of drama with this one, and many agreed the 59 was better than the 45, the 61 and 82 Latours beside it. Bravo! — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Dark scarlet color with translucent light reddish rims. Old wine nose. Notes of black and red fruit, gravel, barnyard floor, old leather and some old desk wood. Fruit is a bit faded but this has plenty of life with decent acidity and a nice structure. Got better with air and opened up nicely. Better than the last bottle of this lot, despite being a more ragged looking bottle. — 4 years ago

Douglas Braun

9.1

2012 Vintage - berry, leather , a lot of other than fruit, orange zest,wood spice ,umami -red rim color — 4 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. — 5 years ago

with Christina and James

Andrea Watt

9.2

Dark cherry and wood smoke with hints of oak and vanilla — 6 years ago

with Lisa

Geoff Troup

Sales Eder Brothers, Cellar Fine Wines

9.0

Opulent style but terrific. Nuanced, smoke and forest floor. — 7 years ago

Conrad Green

9.8

A treat. Dark in color, slightly cloudy. A powerful nose with dark, very mouton fruit. Incredibly aromatic, blackcurrant, mint,graphite, dried herbs, eucalyptus. The palate is extraordinary. So dense and powerful for a wine of almost 70 years. Dark fruit with a savory undertow- leather, thyme, sour cherry, dark chocolate. Really precise flavors and long. After an hour or two in glass there’s notes of coconut and soft wood. Extraordinary. Clearly there’s a lot of age on this but the sheer quality makes for a really dynamic wine. An exceptional bottle, and a teal treat. — 7 years ago

with Howard, Tony and 1 other

Nicolas Greinacher

9.1

Medium garnet, the 2001 Château Léoville Barton is an archetype for cooler vintage, aristocratic left bank Bordeaux. It offers well-defined aromas of blackcurrant, dried black cherry, wood spice, mushroom, forest floor, tobacco and gravel. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is dominated by a massive tannin structure, excellent fruit concentration and a long, persistent finish. Drink now until 2030. — 3 years ago

John Bratincevic

8.9

Color looks pretty good, nice and dark. Nose: licorice, coffee, chocolate, a whiff of black olives, toffee, wood, some spice or herb I can’t identify, a bit of “purple” - I guess that’s cassis. Good sign. Taste: a little sweet, a lot of that fruity-toffee-coffee taste, also violet and blueberry. Distinctly a Washington wine (based on others I’ve had) because of the licorice and blueberry. A much more complex and grownup version of the affordable fruit bombs blends people love to buy. I wish it were a little more robust, but it is pretty darn good. 89-90. A little fruity for me, but good value, Would prefer Chateau St Michelle for the $13 this cost me, but it is a nice alternative, especially if you want something heavier than that. — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a great old looking bottle with a mid shoulder fill. Cork is fully saturated and the crud under the capsule had formed a strong seal. Slow-ox’d for a few hours, then decanted for an hour or two before taken to L’Escargot in Carmel. Amber tawny rims with a reddish tawny core. Crazy nose right from the start. Notes of sweet black cherries, tobacco leaf, plums, black pepper, ash and crusty wood, pencil shavings, some just unwrapped cigar and some menthol. Silky in the mouth with firm structure and soft but present acidity. Long and memorable finish. Outstanding performance over several hours. — 5 years ago

Brett Rogosin

9.0

Beautiful even color. Nose of ripe red plum, plum skin, leather, wet cinnamon bark, wood bark and some vanilla. Stay ok some grippy tannins with acidity that hits the tip of the tongue and slowly expands around the outside of the mouth. Palate transfers through with some dark chocolate and blackberry. This can use time, but is quite tasty right now. — 6 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

A beautiful nose of soft red fruits, some spice, soulful plummy stuff. Very burgundinian but the plushness of US Pinot. On the palate this has great poise. Light but intense this has lovely fresh fruit and some gnarly wild herbs with underlying acidity and good length. Apparently the ‘j’ refers to Jayer cuttings being the source of the Pinot. If so, that would go some way toward explaining why this is so aromatic and balanced. Excellent — 6 years ago

with Naoko and Larry

Beth

8.9

Notes of savory smoked meat, earth, wet leaves, red cherries and underripe raspberries. Also baking spices, cloves. More medium bodied than light. Acidic, long finish. — 7 years ago