2007 Joseph Phelps Insignia

Saturated dark ruby! Ripe but reticent aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, bitter chocolate oak, licorice and mocha are very subtle and complex. Wonderfully pliant and balanced wine, with plush purple fruit and violet flavors displaying a smooth grain and superb depth. Spreads out to saturate the middle palate and builds slowly and inexorably on the aftertaste. This fully ripe, complete wine finishes with stylish tannins and outstanding length. There may still be more fireworks ahead for this beauty. (ST)

(a dry year with a good early budbreak but relatively low cluster weights): Saturated medium ruby. Very fresh black fruit aromas are complicated by licorice, espresso and dark chocolate and lifted by a violet topnote. Flashier, fleshier and sweeter than the relative closed 2006, conveying an almost syrupy concentration without going over the top. A bomb of ripe dark fruits with complementary torrefaction notes, but this very thick wine is also unevolved and in need of more cellaring to gain in complexity, not to mention to resolve its big, tongue-clenching tannins. Includes 40% Suscol vineyard fruit, which Hepworth says "does great in warm years." Incidentally production in 2007 was down 20% from 2006.