February 2024          

 

Dear customer,

 

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 are also offering our ten-year re-release, the 2013.  This beautiful, youthful and very classic Cabernet will improve for decades, we believe.  Galloni gave it 100 points at release, writing, 

“A majestic, towering wine, …the 2013 simply conquers all of the senses, from the intellectual to the hedonistic…. This is easily the greatest young Philip Togni wine I have ever tasted.  Simply put, the 2013 is magnificent and one of the wines of the vintage.” (Vinous, Oct. 2015)

 

Our twenty-year re-release is the 2003, aged here at our winery since bottling.  This wine is nearing maturity and drinking beautifully now.  Of it, Galloni has written, “… tobacco, licorice, incense emerge from the glass, followed by hints of white pepper and orange peel that add intrigue and exoticism.” (Vinous, Nov. 2013, 94 points)

 

The 2016 Ca’ Togni is our penultimate vintage of this beguiling red sweet wine with its alluring bouquet of roses, made from our own Black Hamburgh grapes.  Galloni describes the 2016 Ca’ Togni as “

… bold, luscious and full of life.  Intensely floral and spice aromatics lend an exotic flair throughout.  Sweet black cherry, juniper berry, licorice, black pepper and tea leaves linger… The 2016 is an especially fine edition.” (Vinous, Oct. 2021, 94 points)

 

For those of you new to our mailing list, 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.

 

          

           Best regards,

 

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           Lisa, Birgitta and Philip Togni