The legendary wines of Philip Togni

Their name is spoken of reverentially by the local winemaking community, and yet beyond the valley it has nowhere near the renown it deserves. This is a true Californian gem with a story that stretches back to the early days of Napa’s wine scene.

Arriving in the valley in the late 1950s, after stints making wine in Bordeaux, Algeria and Chile, Philip began his Californian journey at Mayacamas before eventually moving to Chapellet where he made the 1969, a wine generally regarded as one of the finest ever produced in Napa. At some point he vinified a parcel of Spring Mountain fruit. Finding it too singular to blend into the regular cuvee, he set about locating his own plot on the mountain. Subsequently, with the help of his wife Birgitta, they spent six years clearing the land, without electricity, drawing water from a well. Today, while Philip is still on hand, pukka English accent still very much retained, it is Lisa Togni, his daughter, who runs the estate, with the same philosophy, and to the same exacting standards as her father.

These are singular wines and they are loved all the more for it. Napa’s mountain vineyards are a world away from those grown on the valley floor. Up here the wilderness encroaches, and the wines have more torque, more structure and more minerality than those grown at lower altitudes. And yet, the wines Lisa’s making today are not hard – indeed the grace and freshness with which they present themselves is remarkable.

The property consists of two adjacent vineyards, Tanbark Hill and the Togni Estate plot – both sitting at around 1800 ft, above the regular fog line. The former has richer soils and offers up a more immediate expression of the house style – the 2019 is deliciously enjoyable already. The Togni estate vineyard is a great deal stonier, with rocks littering the soils. One solitary Carignan vine that appears to date back to the late 19th century suggests the Tognis were not the first to realise the potential of this site, The moderate slopes are planted with a blend that mirrors the Margaux property Philip previously worked at (82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot). Farming is both Organic and Dry, as it has always been, with the vines Lyre trained to provide the bunches with shade from the summer sun.

Winemaking involves just three large fermentation tanks, no new oak for the free run juice, press wines blended at the end of elevage, and older barrels still for the second year of ageing. When pressed about innovations at a recent vertical, Lisa scratched her head and said, “we’re letting our ferments run a little hotter now – it seems to make the tannins a bit more approachable in youth. Beyond that, not a lot”.

These are traditionally made wines with a proven track record for aging gracefully for many decades. They are unadorned, but gently made, with natural structure, aromas that become increasingly pronounced with time in bottle, and a strong sense of Napan charm. We cannot recommend them highly enough.

“What strikes you first about PhilipTogni is an utter sense of propriety. Here is a man who was planting Cabernet in Napa Valley before the first American was launched into space. Togni has nothing to prove. And yet here he is, with his trim white beard and old army jacket, hampered by a cold one late winter day, shuffling around his winery high on Spring Mountain, 2,000 feet above St. Helena. He takes pains to show me an account, translated from Flemish, of a 1996 Belgian tasting, in which his 1990 Cabernet trumped the 1990 Château Latour. (‘Californische wijn beter dan Bordeaux.’) After five decades in some of Napa's best cellars, Togni does not presume. Certainly he could. Consider the 1969 Chappellet Cabernet, made just months after Togni's daughter Lisa was born; it's now widely considered one of the best Cabernets that California ever produced. His role in its creation is, by his account, minimal - the winemaking was just ‘blindly following Médoc practice,’ the traditions of very traditional Bordeaux …. ‘Looking back from the later heights of sophistication, it was all pretty simplistic,’ Togni says. ‘God smiled, and we had a miracle.’ Surely there's credit going unclaimed here. But demurral is Togni's style. His name isn't often uttered in Napa today, and his mountain property isn't a spot most ever will see …. Even in the 1960s, he was advocating for wines that demonstrated ‘real true vinosity’ - the complexities that make great Cabernet - rather than just a bottle full of fruit. In turn, the Togni wines have gained a reputation for astonishing endurance. They are tensile and savory, dark-fruited and cedar-edged, showing the broad, ripe structure that shows mastery with this particular grape. They routinely last 20 years or more, matching the toughness of great old Bordeaux with a Napan generosity.” - Jon Bonné, SFGate, Apr 2014

Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, Napa Valley: "Pure savoury black magic. The 2019 offers deeply penetrating black-toned fruit laced with black olive and walnut husk. It has gorgeous texture and acidity, which brings forward riper blackberry fruit and raspberry on the palate, coupled with sandalwood and scorched wild herbs. Fine-grained tannins frame a muscular structure with immense grip. Tobacco and cedarwood are masterfully integrated throughout this utterly beguiling red." - 99 points, Decanter