2001 Joseph Phelps Insignia, Napa Valley, USA 1.5L

The average American wine drinker, who is accustomed to drinking wines from the Americas, may hold a wine labeled by varietal in esteem over a “red blend.” This, of course, is a novice mistake. And as we fans of Bordeaux know, many of the best wines in the world are red blends. Today, thanks in part to an innovator named Joseph Phelps, some of these wines are American. In 1974, Phelps decided to make a separate cuvee for each year, a wine made from the best grapes his vineyard had produced—whatever they were. He named the wine Insignia. Because he was not limited by the maximum percentages ...