97 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, December 2011

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus is a beautifully delineated wine endowed with tons of personality and sheer class. The wine comes alive in the glass, with crushed rose petals, dark raspberry jam, licorice and spices. There is an exotic element to the fruit that is highly appealing. Today the tannins are quite firm, suggesting the wine needs at least a few more years in the cellar. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2038.

93 points,

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, June 2011

Bright ruby. Aromas of blueberry, crushed stone, licorice and violet. Very tight and energetic, with dark berry flavors complicated by meaty, smoky and saline nuances. Ultimately creamier than the Insignia, this saturates the entire mouth and leaves the taste buds vibrating. Finishes with major tongue-coating tannins, superb persistence and captivating minerality.

94 points,

Wine Spectator, November 2011

Firm and intense, this is beautifully structured, with a tight, vivid core of mineral-laced raspberry, black cherry, anise and cedar flavors. Full-bodied and firming nicely on the finish, where the minerality provides a flinty edge. Drink now through 2022. 1,445 cases made.

About Winery

In the late 60s, Joseph Phelps was running one of the largest construction companies in the U.S. when he won the bid to build Souverain Winery (now Rutherford Hill) located a few miles outside of St. Helena. Enamored with the beautiful Napa Valley and contemplating a career change, in 1973 he bought the 600-acre Connolly cattle ranch in Spring Valley, and began planting vineyards. The winery was completed in 1974 and that same year the first Syrah was made, the first grapes were crushed at the new facility and the first Insignia was produced. It was a period of unparalleled activity, creativity, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and risk-taking and it put Joe Phelps on the map of top Napa Valley wine producers.

Over the years, the goal of becoming 100% estate grown resulted in carefully planned acquisitions of prime vineyards in the Napa Valley. Today, the Phelps estate consists of the Spring Valley Home Ranch outside of St. Helena, Banca Dorada in Rutherford, Las Rocas and Barboza vineyards in Stags Leap, Yountville Vineyard in Oak Knoll, Suscol Vineyard in South Napa and Backus Vineyard in Oakville.

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