Vines are planted at 2000 feet elevation near the top of Spring Mountain in the western hills of the Napa Valley.
From the winery: Forty years ago, we made our first wine from our vineyard near the top of Spring Mountain. The 1983 Philip Togni Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is still a vibrant confirmation of the merits of our soil and microclimate.
Now we are happy to offer our 2021 Cabernet. After the disappointment of not releasing wines from 2020 because of smoke taint, and after the very real challenges of recovering from the Glass fire which burned some of our land, we’re pleased to be able to offer the excellent 2021, a wine made very much in the tradition of our past wines - elegant, food friendly and very long lived. Antonio Galloni has written, “The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse.” (Vinous, Dec. 2023, 99 points.)
We bought this land at 2000 feet elevation on Spring Mountain, on the western side of the Napa Valley, in 1975 and began planting our now ten-acre vineyard in 1981, followed by the building of our small winery. The Cabernet is a blend that includes some Merlot and small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and is unusually ageworthy. Our vineyard is farmed organically and is almost entirely dry farmed. The buildings are solar powered. We make two estate bottled Cabernets each year: Philip Togni and Tanbark Hill, our second wine. A portion of the Philip Togni Cabernet is held back to be re-released in later years.
Philip Togni Vineyard Cabernet is a very ageworthy Margaux-type blend of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot, Cabernet franc and Petit Verdot. Each year we hold back a portion of the newly-bottled wine to re-release when it is ten, twenty and thirty years old.
Please further note that we have an offer a very special limited bottle count of library release vintage 2014. Of that remarkable vintage, the press had a lot to say. We do not ordinarily share published writing on wines, but, if you're exploring this page of rare blue chip investment-grade Cabernet, you may as well come to know that the World agrees with you that it is, indeed, a very good decision:
98 points Decanter. The Togni family's 2014 reveals a beautifully complex bouquet of plum, black cherry, clove, sweet tobacco, cocoa nib and hints of mountain laurel. On the palate the tannins are very silky and refined, especially by the standards of this site, framing a wine with great concentration, depth and acid line. A supremely graceful Cabernet and a worthy successor to the profound 2013. (5/2017)
97 points Vinous. The 2014 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is the most clenched wine of the evening. It has always been a bit stern, but on this night the 2014 is especially reticent. I admire the energy and persistence, but the wine’s best days are clearly in the future. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2014. It’s a wine very much in the mold of Togni’s other slow-maturing vintages. Time in the glass brings out all sorts of minerally and savory undertones, and yet the 2014 is only showing a fraction of its potential today. (AG) (7/2023)
95 points Jeb Dunnuck. The flagship cuvee is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate and it comes from the estate vineyard on Spring Mountain and is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It's a deeper, richer wine than the Tanbark Hill release and offers terrific creme de cassis, tobacco leaf, cedarwood and incense aromas and flavors. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, concentrated and yet elegant, it shows the hallmark purity of the vintage, has ripe tannin and impeccable balance. 95+ (12/2017)
94 points Wine Advocate. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate has a wonderfully earthy nose of truffles, tilled soil and mossy bark over a core of fresh blackcurrants, black plums and blueberry pie with a waft of bay leaves. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and refreshing with a beautiful quiet intensity and great freshness, finishing long and earthy. (LPB) (6/2018)
94 points Wine Spectator. This has the dark fruit and loam edges of a mountain fruit–based wine, with waves of warm cassis and ganache that are expressive and velvety in feel, while menthol, sage and bay leaf notes fill in the background. Grippy yet inviting, with the flavors melding wonderfully through the long finish, where a sense of freshness pervades. (JM) (1/2019)