I anxiously await my short drive from El Dorado Hills (near Sacramento) to Napa Valley. Tomorrow is the 4th annual Insignia Day put on by the good people at Joseph Phelps Vineyards. They will be pouring the recently released 1999 Insignia, older vintages and barrel samples from the 2000. The event is surely to be first class and I’ll report on the wines and food in my next post.
Tonight enjoyed a bottle of 1995 Saddleback Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine made by Nils Venge (of Plumpjack and Groth fame) was a bit hot initially, but when the alcohol blew off the wine packed bright fruit, nice layers and flavors of toffee, black rasberries and dark cherry with a nice viscosity and beautiful finish of berries that lingered on. Price paid in 1997 $26. If you can find this wine at a good price, you won’t be disappoined in a fine California Cab drinking nice with about 5 years or more left in its life….
