Paul K

9.5

Decanted and let sit for two hours, with just a quick taste at pop and pour. Delicious.

I’ve been staring at these bottles for quite some time, and while it’s still very early, I feel like I got a pretty good preview of what this has in store. The youth is compressing the fruit on the nose, allowing the oak, earth, flint, spice, and dried flowers to take center stage.

There’s a touch of iodine on the initial palate, followed by increasingly complex fruit. Blue, black, and red fruits all emerged more and more as the night progressed, but they were never really at the fore. Everything feels beautifully integrated, layered, and just a little restrained right now.

Lovely wine, but I’m putting a sticky note on the remaining bottles: do not touch for five years. — 5 days ago

KA

9.2

The Eighty Six NYC — 2 days ago

Bryan Vogt

8.9

Past peak on this. Raisin and prune are prominent and little fruit left on the palette. — 3 days ago

KA

9.2

Oak Room DC — a day ago

Joe Flo

9.7

Delicious 🍷!!!! — a month ago

WC Fields

9.5

A stunner. — 25 days ago

Joe DAscoli

9.5

Opened and decanted for about 2 hours

Evolved from being tight and Bordeaux like to eventually giving off some red fruits and having a kirsch like flavor

Fairly robust and a lot of depth. — 2 months ago

Brandon Boesch

9.5

Bought at auction. First bottle awful. This one is lovely. Needed two hours of air to settle and integrate. Freeze dried strawberries, dried cherries, plum, dust, herbs like tarragon and thyme on nose. I could smell for hours. Palate is bigger than I expected more game and herbs than fruit. Leather with dried cherries. There’s more herbs and plums and cooked/reduced berries but not super sweet. Good tannin still. Pretty good and fun to try at 26 years. I am guessing warm vintage based on abv. — 5 days ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Opened about 90min prior to service; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2001 Monte Bello pours a deep garnet with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with lovely notes of black currants, blackberries, plum, tobacco, purple flowers, an intoxicating mix of exotic Eastern spices, some cocoa, inorganic earth and minerals. On the palate? The wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long and impeccably balanced. To my palate, this bottle has reached the age when Monte Bello starts to really become interesting. What a delight! Drink now with some air, through 2051. — 19 days ago

Yoly Sardinas

9.0

Great wine . At Le 1925 for diner ..
Needs to open up. — 3 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2016 vintage. A decade has allowed this to blossom a bit. Revealing super-subtle complexities now that frequently get lost in appraisals as they posit as fleeting impressions versus unimpeachable, primary truths. Medium body. 8.12.26. — a month ago

Paul K

9.6

Love this! — a month ago

Inseon Hwang

9.3

Dark tannins, cherries, fig jam and long minerals # — a month ago

K Brooks

9.1

Delicious red wine with cheese, crackers and potato chips on a wonderful trip to the Pacific Northwest. — a month ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Presented double-blind at dinner. The wine pours a deep garnet with a near opaque core and a slightly orange rim with considerable variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and desiccated fruit: black currants, blackberries, plum, pipe tobacco, capsicum, pencil shavings, a touch leather, organic earth and a mix of dried herbs and some fine warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. Really tasty stuff.

Initial conclusions: this is an old wine, likely 30-40 years old. That being said, it’s still very distinguishable as it’s showing varietal characteristics. This could be Cabernet Sauvignon (or a blend thereof), Cabernet Franc (or a blend thereof), or Merlot (or a blend thereof). I can see this being Napa because the fruit is still showing some generosity. But there’s a lot of non-fruits there too. Regardless, this was giving Left Bank vibes so I could also see this being Bordeaux from a great vintage like 1982. And that’s my call, Cabernet Sauvignon-blend from France, Bordeaux, Saint-Estèphe, from a classified growth like Calon-Ségur. Shucks. But I’m not mad about my choice! Old Opus One’s are tricky to differentiate. Drinking very well right now but this will live well past 2035. — 3 days ago

Paul J

9.3

PnP. More fruit forward than previous bottles. Even had some Pinot elements. Lovely texture and deep wine. — 12 days ago

with Brooke

Mark Mannebach

9.2

BlackBerry, currant, tobacco and pencil notes. Nice finish — 12 days ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

I recently had a conversation with a few Joseph Phelps Ambassador’s at Pebble Beach Food & Wine in April. I said, I had every vintage of Insignia back to 2006 in storage. They said, “you should really drink up the 2006.” So, I coravined an 06 last weekend, a taste. I agreed then. But tonight not the case, it shows it still has a fair amount of life. Another 5-8 yrs and perhaps plus.

My Ribcap, a definition of Medium Rare Plus.

The nose reveals floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel, softly layered baking spices, very underrated graphite, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola.

The palate shows well resolved, rounded, velvety M+ tannins. Nicely ripe fruits that are floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel river, softly layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanillin, warm caramel, dark Asian spices with palate burrowing heat, dry tobacco/ leather, cedar, grilled meats, very underrated graphite, sweet tarriness, black licorice, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola, candied to withering; dark, red, blue florals wrapped in liquid violets, epic rainfall acidity, well balanced-structured-toned, elegant finish that lasts minutes and falls on earth & heated spice.

95-96 peaking. — a month ago

Bill Morgan

9.0

Full body Black fruit flavors with hints of cinnamon — a month ago

Jedidiah Abrams

9.4

Half-bottle — 2 months ago