Tanbark Hill, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2021

The vineyard that produces Tanbark Hill, tucked just around the corner from the main Togni plot and at a similar altitude, tends to produce a slightly earlier drinking wine, on account of the slightly deeper, richer soils found there. In a vintage like 2021 this means drop dead gorgeous fruit held in check by a lovely spine of Spring Mountain tannin – a wine you can broach after just a few years or stick away for a decade. Mint, blueberry and cool dark berry fruit, then aromatic forest notes, chapparal and mountain sage – it’s all here, bright and vivid, nestled amongst ripe and succulent tannins. Don’t overlook the joy to be had in this Tanbark Hill – surely one of the valley’s most keenly priced serious wines.