2022 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

WSI95+ DEC97 Leads with beautiful capsicum notes and fresh, minted black fruit. Very black. It’s very lively, with excellent acidity and a wonderful mineral freshness. Super fine tannins are just ripe and right now showing nicely. Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain. Lisa explained that this wine would see one more racking before bottling, but it had all the natural proportions of the free run and press juice when I tasted it, and wow, what a youthful barrel sample. It’s a real standout of the vintage, showing a rich, ruby-purple hue, which is a great sign given the challenges of the heat spike that rocked the valley beginning 31 August. But at 2,000-feet of elevation, the temperature on the valley floor in St. Helena below was 5°C hotter than at the estate. Harvesting began on 23 August and finished around 12 September, and the Tognis felt the law of averages made a difference for them. The slightly underripe fruit picked in late September blended with the riper fruit picked post-heat wave has melded together to create a fantastically approachable Togni! This will be an exciting wine to re-taste once it has gone through that final racking, is bottled, and can settle for a bit.