5/13/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

Nice wine right in the sweet spot. Still some beautiful elegant fruit, with mature flavors developing. Tannins are mostly gone however, so I don’t see it improving any further. Enjoy now before the fruit starts to fade.

4/30/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

This is a very pleasing wine. The Merlot flavors are coming on strong and in a good way. The cab Sauvignon and franc bring the structure and the Merlot and petit Verdot give awesome fruit flavors. I do think this is most likely at peak however. Drink more and enjoy the richness of the chocolate flavors.

4/26/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

I am not a big Merlot fan but this is a great wine. It’s the best Washington Merlot that I know of. It has the typical chocolate flavors I do appreciate in Merlot but it also has structure. A bit one dimensional but the fruit is still very young with some nice tannins. This will probably be even better with another 3 years in the bottle.

4/17/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

This is drinking great right now. Some nice deep berry note overlayed with some tertiary flavors. Tasting more mature than I would have expected, so I wouldn’t hold these too much longer.

4/15/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

This is my last bottle and I’m glad I’ve kept it this long. It has a great lucious mouth feel and weight on the palate. Lemon curd flavor with minerals and some tertiary flavors starting to come through making the wine much more interesting then my previous bottles.
I do think this should improve with another 2-3 years.

3/26/2024 - louisl wrote:

Opened a bottle and it was bad. Not corked, just bad. These have been cellared in my cellar straight from the winery. Opened a second bottle which was very different and quite drinkable, but very underwhelming. Decent weight but yet not much flavor and uninteresting. Other ‘09 from Washington are drinking much better at this point.

3/7/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

Beautiful nose, very classic Châteauneuf. Nice palate as well but feeling a bit tired. Good wine but definitively on the down slope. Drink up now.

3/5/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

Nice lush dark fruit and mouthfeel, but very one dimensional. I’d expect more complexity's at this price. Drinking well but could go another 3 years.

1/22/2024 - louisl Likes this wine:

Great classic lead pencil nose with plenty of fruit left upon opening, but it faded throughout dinner. It was still enjoyable but just a lot less youthful. Don’t decant and drink soon.

12/5/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Great bottle drinking really well right now. Well integrated tannins and beautiful rich chocolate flavors. It has a long complex finish. Could hold up longer but I wouldn’t risk it.

12/3/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Wow, hard to beat the QPR on this wine. It has mellowed out nicely with the age, but still has nice deep cassis fruit flavors with savory notes and a nice finish. Drinking well but could go for another 3 years easily.

10/22/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

I was hoping for a little more from this bottle. I love the rich fruit from the regular Merlot, but the oak in this one was a little overwhelming. It did mellow out with air time but was still too strong for my taste after 90 minutes of it being decanted. It is more refined and structured than the regular one but that oak is just a little too much.

10/20/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

I really liked this wine. It was the best Peter Michael white I’ve had so far. Rich and with a luscious texture. It was complex with a long finish. The texture is what did it for me however.

10/12/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Nice deep nose for a viognier without being too tropical. Great viscosity and weight on the pallet with a very long finish. One of the best Viognier in Washington along with Kobayashi.

9/26/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

This wine was quite exceptional. The balance of minerals, acidity and fruit was perfect. It had a purity and freshness which is hard to describe. I think it would be even better in a couple of years. It was the wine of the night of our whole party. It might have help the overall experience that we were drinking this while camping in Zion National park.

7/26/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Decent wine for the price but a bit too sweet unfortunately. It has some good classic Napa fruit flavors but it’s just too overwripe for me. I don’t see that issue getting better with robe unfortunately.

7/9/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Drinking nicely, did not fade like the last bottle I’ve had. It has a predominant Napa fruit flavor, but muted by the age. I don’t think there is enough structure to make this age much further unfortunately.

7/5/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

I love this rosé. It doesn’t look at all like a rosé, but it smells and tastes like one. It has great acidity, nice richness and minerals and a great finish.

6/27/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

This is a great wine for the $19 I payed, and had aged beautifully. It’s not an elegant wine by any means, but one with richness, complexity and finish I wouldn’t expect at this price range. It should age fine for another 3-5 years.

5/5/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Just starting to mature with some firm tannins and jammy fruit that are both softening up. I believe this will develop some elegance and complexity with more aging as long as the fruit lasts.

3/20/2023 - louisl wrote:

Still some good tannins and nice fruit, with mature flavors on the finish. It paired very well with meat. Not the most complex, but can hold up a for a couple of years for sure.

1/24/2023 - louisl Likes this wine:

Wow, this is drinking very well right now, and much younger than a 20+ year old wine. Great rich texture, and dark red fruit and red blood flavors that is so typical of Insignia. The tanins have softened and the palate is soft, but the mature flavors are still subtle. Drinking well right now, but will continue to evolve into a more mature beautiful wine.

10/21/2022 - louisl wrote:

I kept this bottle to see how this would age, and it didn’t do so well. It has faded and has very little left to offer. The ‘13 is still drinking well, but this is gone.

10/4/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Much better than I expected. This is drinking very well and still has 3-5 years in it, but I think it is in the perfect place right now. Dark rich fruit with nice grippy tannins still, but not very complex. The richness is what I enjoyed with the pleasant finish .

10/2/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Pop and started very tight. It opened up nicely after that with rich rounded dark fruit flavor. My only complaint is that it is a little heavy on the oak. Drinking nicely, but can probably improve over the next 3 years or so.

8/14/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Drinking great right now with some intense fruit (currant and raspberrie) and mature flavors in the background. Complex on the nose all the way through the finish. Should hold for a couple more years but no reason to wait.

5/30/2022 - louisl wrote:

I had higher expectations for this wine. There is some nice big dark fruit left in there, but it is not aging great and should be drank now as it is not going to improve.

5/28/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Drinking beautifully right now. Big bold dark fruit on the nose with some mature flavors coming through, full body with some residual grippy tannins. This will hold a few more years for sure, but I don't see any reason to wait.

4/14/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Nice deep fruit and decent structure. Needs some short term cellaring but probably not one for the long haul.

2/7/2022 - louisl Likes this wine:

Drinking nicely now but I don’t think this will age well beyond this point. Nice dark fruit but doesn’t seem to have the structure to evolve any further.

1/4/2022 - louisl wrote:

Drinking nicely, but disappointing for Insignia. Maybe in a dull phase as there are still some nice fruit, but very little secondary flavors other than some eucalyptus notes.

12/9/2021 - louisl wrote:

I am not a big WA Malbec fan, so my expectations were on the low side. I would not have guessed this to be a Malbec. I could taste it on the finish because I knew what it was. It has great structure and layers and some rich fruit still. I wish I had another to see where it would go from here.

9/27/2021 - louisl wrote:

Much better than the last bottle I had a while ago. Nice deep fruit and a good layer of tannins. The complexity isn’t quite there however so I don’t think this will improve from this point.

8/17/2021 - louisl wrote:

Well past it’s prime unfortunately. Tannins and fruit have died with nothing interesting left behind.

7/6/2021 - louisl Likes this wine:

One of the best wine is I’ve had in a while, and I’ve opened some good stuff lately. It was quite tannic and rough on the edges when first opened, but got more elegant after just 15 minutes. The nose was interesting but nothing special, but the mouth feel was velvety and rich, with the classic blueberry Quilceda fruit. The finish was complex and when on and on. In a great place right now. It will keep for a while, but pretty much at peak right now.

5/6/2021 - louisl wrote:

Big tannins still, but showing better then the last time I had it. Some interesting fruit still but I wonder if it will fade away before the tannins do.

4/15/2021 - louisl wrote:

My bottle yesterday was a disappointment and was oxidized. I decided to open my last bottle today and it was much better. I still think this wine would have been better 3-5 years ago, but today, it was a very elegant wine, drinking very nicely. It just lacked the complexity I think a win should have at this price level. It certainly won't get any better at this point, so drink up and enjoy what it has to offer right now.

4/14/2021 - louisl wrote:

Pop and pour, and it was not offering anything. 15 minutes later, it was oxidized... I have 1 more bottle, will try it tomorrow.

11/26/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Nice wine, but on the decline. It is starting to be out of balance at this point and should have been drank earlier. There are still tannins present, but the fruit is on the decline and it is lacking on mid palate. Not a bad wine, but drink now if you have any of it left.

11/20/2020 - louisl Does not like this wine:

This bottle was over the hill unfortunately. We had a Vaillons 05 recently which was superb, but this was flabby with an off putting flavor.

11/17/2020 - louisl wrote:

The first glass was very good with some great typical Napa fruit and a good balance of oak, but the fruit faded fast. This wine is unfortunately already on the decline. Drink soon and drink fast as it got flabby and boring after an hour. Do not devant.

10/23/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Still very good, but it has lost a lot of its fuit, flavor and complexity as a result. Elegant for a Shiraz at this stage, but was probably more interesting 3 years from now

9/17/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Pop and pour and drank over 2 hours. It was great for the first half hour, but then went downhill after that. Pretty youthful at first with and amazing finish of leather, cigar box and dark fruit. The nose got more intense after 15 minutes, but then the complexity and amazing finish disappeared. The nose went away after that. Drink now and do not decant.

6/24/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Great nose with intense blueberry jam and cassis. On the palate, the flavors are more muted and reveal its age as it doesn't quite offer the fruit that the nose exposed. It tastes more subdued and the flavors are well integrated, but the tannins are still pretty grippy. The finish is quite long and the wine is drinking quite well at the moment. I wonder what it would taste in a few years, but I think the tannins might not resolve properly and become out of balance with the fruit.

5/19/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Wow, incredible wine. Super primal at this stage, powerful on the nose, somptous in the mouth, and multiple layers of raspberries, red meat and an incredibly long finish. Drinking very well right now, but will gain elegance and complexity over the years. Drink now if you want power, wait if you want elegance.

5/2/2020 - louisl wrote:

I was very disappointed at first. The wine is pretty light and the finish was very watery. I hated it so much I opened a different bottle of wine. I came back to it at the end of the night, and it was a different wine. There was an interesting finish now, and while not a great wine, it was very pleasant. I re-corked it and it was still drinking well the next day. I don’t think this will improve with age, but I will decant the next bottle for sure.

4/21/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

A very elegant wine, with restrained power to it. Subtle but deep on the nose, and lots of smoke on the palate. The finish goes on and on. I wouldn't hold on to it as it isn't going to improve at this point.

4/19/2020 - louisl wrote:

Very oaky, and a bit disjointed. The fruit that's left is nice, but the oak and tannins overpowers it. It's trying too hard to be a big wine and failing. The age might help with tannins, but the oak will become an even bigger problem.

4/19/2020 - louisl Likes this wine:

Opened a 2001 Le Desir which was corked, so opened the '99 La Joie instead. Wow, it did not disappoint. Rich fruit still present, with layers of mature flavors created great complexity, and a nice long finish. This is how I like my Napa cabs, and glad I kept this one this long. I would drink now however, as it won't get any better at this point.

2/2/2020 - louisl wrote:

Still a lot of pleasant ripe fruit in this wine. Currant with leather on the finish. Rich texture. Not very complex and missing structure, it almost comes out as sweet. Still, I enjoy the fruit it still has. Not sure if this will pick up more mature flavors as it ages, it hasn't really yet.