Joseph Phelps Wines - Insignia or Innisfree?

So you've probably heard of Joseph Phelps Insignia. You know, the huge Cabernet that tastes great and costs $200 a bottle at the winery or $500 in a restaurant. It usually is rated in the mid 90s by the wine wonks that taste the stuff for a living (what a job - how do I get hired?). Winemaker Ashley Hepworth's notes say - "the 2009 Insignia has a beautiful deep garnet with incredible depth and concentration. Aromas of freshly crushed blueberries and blackberries intertwined with baking spices, cigar box and attractive floral notes are followed by seamless tannins, texture and finish. This wine is focused and fresh, with a youthful showiness". It really is a great wine! I just don't want to take out a second mortgage to buy a bottle.

Joseph Phelps also does a Cabernet that is called Innisfree. They don't put the Joseph Phelps name on the label. I dunno why, they just don't. Maybe they're ashamed of it but I don't think so. Maybe they don't want the wine buyers confusing the two. Probably the latter. Guess what - the Innisfree can be bought over the Internet for $21 to $39 a bottle. Ashley Hopworth's notes on the 2009 Innisfree say - "this Cabernet Sauvignon has aromatic notes of raspberries, cherries, dried flowers and spice box followed by an approachable, harmonized, medium-bodied finish for enjoyment upon release". It really is a great wine! And, I don't have to take out a second mortgage to buy a bottle

I am told that the two wines are made with the same grapes but the Innisfree is made in a more approachable style, with less oak. The Insignia is made to be cellared for a lot of years. Wait, what?? I'm gonna spend all my money on a bottle of wine that I'm not gonna drink until I'm too old to enjoy it? That's not gonna happen.

Unless you're one of the aforementioned wine wonks I betcha if you did a side by side taste test you wouldn't be able to pick out the one that costs almost ten times more.

My advice - whip up a prime rib from my wife's recipe blog at http://susiesmonthlyrecipes.blogspot.com and open a bottle of Innisfree.