The latest releases from Philip Togni Vineyard.

Iconic Napa Cabernet grown high up on Spring Mountain, produced in the same traditional way as it has been since the early 1980s.

The Togni wines from the 2021 vintage, a year already fêted as a modern benchmark, have drawn unanimous acclaim from the world’s leading critics. Decanter has awarded the Grand Vin a perfect 100 points, describing it as “an absolutely riveting Cabernet” brimming with “gorgeous violets, ripe blackberry and sagebrush nuances.” Perhaps even more tellingly, Antonio Galloni (Vinous) names it his wine of the year for 2024, with 99 points, extolling its “soaring aromatics” and “mind-blowing textural finesse.” The Wine Advocate follows suit with 98+ points, calling it “cool and fresh” with “gentle grace notes of mountain sage and refreshing acids.”

The traditional blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2021 is a masterclass in precision power and verticality. A swirling core of tannins provides a tightly coiled framework for the pixellated dark fruit and notes of mountain woodland and fractured stone. Powerful, yet fresh, and with an undisputed reputation for longevity, the 2021 should unfurl gloriously over the coming decades, rewarding patience with an aristocratic bouquet and a seamless, mineral-driven palate.

The 2021 Tanbark Hill Cabernet Sauvignon has garnered significant praise too. Decanter awarded it 95 points, highlighting its "pure dark berry fruits" and "assertive" yet finely grained tannins, while Galloni and the Wine Advocate both gave it 93 points. It’s made in exactly the same was as the main label, but from a different section of the vineyard, where the soils are slightly richer. You can expect to enjoy this from 2030, while you wait for the estate’s main label to mature.          The 10 year on release is the 2015 main label; a vintage that produced generous, pliant wines. And it is open for business, purring with ripe cabernet aromas set amongst the very first stages of an aged bouquet. We’d loved watching it unfurl in the glass over dinner. On the palate it offers up notes of mulberry, liquorice and squid ink straight off the bat, with black cherry and sweet spice below, and opens further in the glass to suggest very slight notes of roasted plum and Valrhona chocolate. Ripe sweet tannins provide the architecture. “We see a bit of ripeness here by our standards” Lisa offered, which illuminates their philosophy as much as the wine. This is coasting at ten years of age…but ready to give immediate enjoyment to those lucky enough to secure a case.           Occupying an iconic status amongst those in the Napa know, the Togni wines remain remarkably under the radar. Production tops out at around 2000 cases, so there’s not alot to go around, and the family have never been ones to spend money on marketing. And yet, in countless vertical tastings these wines show just how beautifully they age – glorious bottles from vintages like 1991 and 2001 are experiences to change the way one thinks about what is possible with great Californian Cabernet.We cannot recommend them highly enough.