2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard Oakville

Tor's 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard will challenge readers' perceptions about the year. It boasts striking depth and intensity supported by beams of minerality. Constantly changing in the glass, the 2011 Tierra Roja is dark, powerful and built for cellaring. The impeccable, polished finish makes it impossible to resist a second taste. This is another drop-dead gorgeous effort from Tor. Yields were just 1.5 tons per acre.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard (150 cases produced versus twice that much in 2010) is made in a lighter, easygoing, consumer-friendly style with lots of black currant, bouquet garni and tobacco leaf characteristics, medium body, outstanding ripeness as the alcohols are relatively elevated, soft tannins and low acidity. This will be an endearing 2011 to enjoy over the next 7-8 years. Tor Kenward, the long-time PR rep for the Beringer empire, has his own project for a number of years and he continues to build an impressive portfolio of fascinating wines that reflect his love of Napa Valley and his own personal preference for complex wines. Incidentally, he has one of the great wine collections of Napa and he is one of those true connoisseurs who is happy to share his best bottles. While production levels for the wines in this portfolio are relatively small, all of them are top-notch, interesting efforts. Tasting through three vintages of Tor’s Cabernet Sauvignons left me with the impression that this winery continues to go from strength to strength. Despite the issues of valley floor vineyards, Tor has done well in 2011. He told me that the rot that afflicted many valley floor vineyards was very site specific, and the only way to ensure clean, pure wines was low yields, open canopies, culling out affected bunches or berries, and Draconian-like sorting procedures. It appears he has done all of that given the success of his 2011s, which, with the exception of the Cimarossa, are low elevation vineyards. I also tasted five barrel samples from 2012, a large, easy vintage with no problems of any serious consequence. Tel. (707) 963-3100

(blended with 3% petit verdot): Bright ruby-red with a blue tinge. Sexy, youthfully medicinal aromas of black cherry, cassis, bitter chocolate, iron and spices. Quite plush, silky and rich for the vintage but not at all overly sweet, offering good definition to the complex flavors of redcurrant, raspberry, flowers, iron and tobacco. Really excellent balance and mid-palate texture for the vintage. Finishes with serious but fine-grained tannins and excellent length. Very successful.