Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec, 2% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc from 100% estate-grown Napa Valley vineyards:

 • Stags Leap District, 20% Barboza Vineyard and 17% Las Rocas Vineyard 
 • St. Helena, 21% Home Ranch Vineyard
 • Oak Knoll District, 20% Yountville Vineyard
 • Napa Valley, 13% Suscol Vineyard
 • Rutherford, 9% Banca Dorada Vineyard

Aging: 24 months in 100% new French oak from coopers Taransaud, Dargaud Jaegle, Nadalie, Demptos, Marcel Cadet and Sylvain before bottling in February 2014.

Winemaking Data

Vineyards are carefully monitored throughout the growing season for optimum, even ripening. Blocks remain separate during picking, sorting and fermentation. The wine was aged 24 months in 100% new French oak from coopers Taransaud, Dargaud Jaegle, Nadalie, Demptos, Marcel Cadet and Sylvain before bottling in February 2014.

Winemaker Notes

The 2011 Insignia is layered with aromatics of dark fruit, cardamom, tobacco, Herbs de Provence and graphite on the nose. Fresh and lively this elegant wine boasts bright red cherry, blackberry and espresso throughout the palate with supple tannins.

Vintage Notes

The 2011 growing season began normally with bud break occurring at the end of March. However, due to cool weather, bloom completed two to three weeks later than normal. By mid-June, preparations were underway for the unusually cool growing season. Vines were forced into competition for water by leaving cover crop untilled, delaying irrigation and cluster thinning. An eleven-day warming trend in mid-September helped push grape maturation. The first Insignia designated fruit block picked in 2011 was Merlot on October 3rd at the Yountville Vineyard, and the final Insignia grape block picked was Cabernet Sauvignon from the Home Ranch Vineyard on November 1st. Despite mid-season rain and cool weather in 2011, blends were carefully selected and the wines are fresh, will be long lived, and no doubt continue to evolve and develop.