1990 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
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Tasting notes
The 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a wild, powerful wine. Still quite deep, the 1990 packs a serious punch. Sweet pipe tobacco, sage, mint, cedar and coffee grounds are all laced into a core of unctuous dark red fruit. To the contemporary Napa Valley palate, the 1990 will come across as a bit herbal, but Togni fans who know what to expect will flip out. Tasted from a perfect bottle, the 1990 is more than a wine, it is a piece of history that represents the early days of this estate. In 1990 a wet spring resulted in irregular flowering and small yields. There was no second wine at the time, so all the fruit went into this, the main label. The 1990 was made from a combination of the original vines planted in 1981 and vines planted in 1985. Readers should note that the 1990 needs to be opened well in advance and poured off its sediment. Don't expect a perfect wine; do expect a genuine, artisan expression of a vintage and place as interpreted by one of Napa Valley's most important families.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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This small 10-acre estate situated high on Spring Mountain produces some of the most distinctive Napa Valley wines. Togni has been a long-time believer in not acidifying and his wines are never filtered at bottling. Togni's ability to harvest ripe, sweet fruit is evident in the 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine with awesome intensity. It may be the most opulent of the four vintages (1990 - 1993). According to Togni, 1990 produced his smallest crop, which may account for the wine's extraordinary concentration and intensity. It exhibits ripe fruit buttressed by sweet toasty oak, and jammy black-cherry and blackcurrant flavors. The wine is just beginning to open up and strut its stuff. Togni's Cabernet Sauvignon, generally made from a Bordeaux-like blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, and aged 22 months in small French oak casks of which 25-40% are new, is one of the richest, most complex Cabernets made in California. Every time I have the opportunity to go back and taste an older vintage I am impressed with the complex aromatics the wine develops. How reassuring it is to see these Cabernets become even more impressive with bottle age. The first Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon vintage was 1983, a wine that remains not only young, but one of the top wines from this unimpressive vintage for most other Napa wineries. The upcoming releases look to be sensational, with the 1992 now being released, and the 1993 in a year. Tel. (707) 963-3731; Fax (707) 963-9186
About the producer
Perched at nearly 2,000 feet atop Spring Mountain, Philip Togni Vineyard is one of Napa Valley’s most revered small, family-run wineries. Established in the early 1980s by legendary winemaker Philip Togni, the estate has earned consistent critical acclaim for its age-worthy, Bordeaux-style blends.