The 2023 Insignia marks a new chapter in one of Napa Valley’s most enduring wines. For the first time, fruit from Joseph Phelps’ celebrated Backus Vineyard in Oakville entered the blend, joining estate vineyards across Stags Leap, Rutherford, St. Helena, and the cooler reaches of southern Napa Valley. It is Insignia doing exactly what Joe Phelps intended when he created it in 1974: choosing the strongest lots of the vintage and assembling them into one uncompromising expression of Napa Valley. Insignia treats Napa Valley as its canvas. In 2023, a long, moderate growing season allowed each site to ripen at its own pace, giving the winemaking team an unusually broad palette from which to build the final blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. That range of sites is central to the wine, allowing Insignia to draw on distinct parts of the valley rather than rely on a single vineyard or appellation.  The final wine is shaped with the same precision as the blend itself. The 2023 spent twenty months in 100% new French oak before bottling, giving its individual components time to come together. The result is a wine built for structure, balance, and longevity, carrying the original Insignia idea forward with the polish and discipline of five decades of refinement.