ArtisanWineDepot.com

95+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2006 Insignia (95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot; 16,000 cases produced) is a superb effort in this vintage. Another 30+ year wine, it boasts a dense plum/purple color as well as abundant notes of licorice, black currants, charcoal, black olives, and graphite. Full-bodied, pure, and rich with moderately high tannins, it represents a California version of a Bordeaux from Pauillac or St.-Julien. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2045.

In case you think the aging curves I have described are unrealistically long, I have the Joseph Phelps regular Cabernets from the mid-seventies as well as the Insignias in my cellar, and those wines are still drinking beautifully at 30+ years of age. Today’s wines are better made." - Robert Parker (12/2009)

94-96 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"Since 2004, 100% of the Bordeaux varietals used in the Insignia proprietary blend have been from estate vineyards. There are just under 15,000 cases of the 2006 Insignia, a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. Made in a dense, full-bodied, muscular style, it is less charming than the 2005, with high tannin, extract, and richness. The blackberry and cassis characteristics are accompanied by notions of damp earth, subtle oak, licorice, and forest floor. It, too will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age, and should drink well for two decades or more." -Robert Parker (12/2008)

95 Points - Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine:
"Already amazingly seductive with wonderfully rich aromas of sweet oak, cocoa and fully expressed fruit making a first-rate introduction, this riveting young wine in no way lets up on the palate and delivers deep, multi-faceted flavors that combine ripeness, sweet oak and very precise fruit in near-perfect proportion. As is often the case with Insignia bottlings, it is so beautifully balanced that it invites early drinking, and, while we do not condemn giving in to its charms, we also would lobby strongly for patience as its best lies years down the line."

94 Points - Wine Spectator Magazine:
"Teasing with its floral, spicy cherry, wild berry and currant aromas, this is full-bodied, firm and structured, tight and focused, offering glimpses of what lies ahead with its complex mix of flavors and tightly wound tannins. Yet its finesse and refinement are apparent on the finish. Needs time. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Best from 2011 through 2018. 16,900 cases made." –JL (10/15/2009)

94 Points & "Cellar Selection" - Wine Enthusiast Magazine:
"There are $15 Cabs that are better to drink now. This is so strong and fruity, so oaky, so tannic, it just overwhelms the palate in its extreme youth. Just massive in blackberries, black currants, coffee, cocoa, dried herbs and 100% new, smoky-sweet French. Ridiculous to open it anytime soon. Desperately needs time in the bottle, and the point score reflects potential. Try 2012–2018." - S.H. (2/1/2010)

91 Points - James Suckling:
"On the nose this has notes of currants, dark fruits, cigar box, and dried flowers. The palate is rich and powerful, with a chewy texture and slightly dry tannins. Drink this. 14+23+22+32." - (April 12, 2011)

90(+?) - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar:
"Good full medium bright ruby. Fresher on the nose than the Napa bottling, offering cassis, bitter chocolate and roasted herbs. Then very ripe and dense but suave, showing good energy and a slightly clenched middle palate. The tannins are serious and granular, but here there's plenty of supporting mid-palate material. Still a bit awkward following the recent bottling; this may well merit a higher score three or four years down the road." -Stephen Tanzer (May/June 2009)

91-93 - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar:
"Bright, deep ruby. Primary aromas of cassis, violet, tar, minerals, licorice and nutty oak. Sweet black raspberry and mocha flavors are complicated by tar and licorice from the petit verdot component, and possess the mid-palate flesh to buffer the firm acid spine. Finishes with fine, dusty tannins for the year and excellent persistence. This is much less harmonious today than the 2005, but then this wine normally requires time to knit." -Stephen Tanzer (May/June 2008)