1977 Joseph Phelps Insignia

The 1977 Insignia exhibits wonderful sweet plum, red and black currant, fruitcake and spice box notes, a surprisingly broad, savory, sweet mouthfeel, and comes across better than I remember. It is a complex wine aromatically, and its medium to full-bodied flavors seem to be intact. Readers who love notions of baking spices, allspice, fruitcake, etc. will like the complexity offered by this wine. Interestingly, 1977 was the first vintage to move completely to French oak. Additionally, 20% of the fruit came from estate vineyards with 80% from growers. Made from an unusual blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc from the Tench Vineyard (next to Backus on the Oakville hillsides), Stanton Vineyard in Oakville, and the Spring Valley Vineyard in St. Helena. Production was the highest yet at 1,900 cases, and the alcohol achieved 13.3%. This was the second drought year in a row, which generally resulted in a much smaller than normal crop size, but most growers thought the grapes came in less stressed and in better overall health than what they saw in 1976.