Philip Togni vertical with new notes

Tonight we opened the first bottle of a three bottle vertical, the 1993 (they were supposed to be drunk together last Friday). This was the first vintage of Togni I ever tasted twelve years ago, courtesy of Max at Wine Connection.

This was excellent, and could have easily been taken for a Bordeaux. Slightly austere at first, but showing well in the glass with some coaxing. Fairly complex with a distinct ferric component, earth and still a good deal of pretty red fruit. Good acidity, long finish. Short of greatness but still lovely. 94

Will drink the other two vintages 1994 and 1997 during the week.

I attended a vertical of 8 or 10 going back to the 90s last week. I can’t figure out where I put my notes, but it was a very impressive showing. I’ll post if I can find the notes.

The 93 Togni has always surprised me, and for my tastes I’ve consistently found it better than the 97. I’d put my money on the 92 in a blind tasting of Togni from the 90’s!

Looking forward to tasting the 1997 as I have only had it once before, out of magnum, and thought it was one of the greatest California wines I have ever had.

That was a great note! I agree with you wholeheartedly!

I have a mag of the this. I’m assuming it still has some life. Sadly I went threw my last few 1992s last year and they were amazing wines and above the greatness threshold.

The first time I tasted Togni wines was at a MacArthur’s California Barrel Sample tasting in the mid-1990s, the year most producers were showing 1994s. Togni had open the 1991, 1993 and 1994. All were quite excellent (in fact your note on the 1993 does not surprise me and is consistent with what I would have expected even way back then). It was the weakest of the three, even though it was quite good. The strongest of the three was the 1991. I could not buy it at the time (only futures for 1994 were being sold at that time by MacArthurs at the tasting and they were out of 1991 in the store), but bought some 1994 that I still am holding in my cellar. My guess is that the wine will be quite good and I look forward to you telling me when to open mine. [cheers.gif]

Amazing that we are wondering if a 26 year old Napa Cab is ready. Tonight we are making Chicken Tikka, so probably tomorrow.

Thanks for great note Mark. I love Togni but don’t buy enough, all I have left is a single '93.
A couple of years ago our Bdx group took a detour to Cali one night, lots of strong wines (90 Diamond Crk 3, '91 Mondavi Res., 87 Montelena), but the '91 Togni was easily my WOTN .

Reputation aside, there are so many wonderful age worthy Napas. Opened a 2001 Dunn Napa Valley Cab this week - absolutely lovely, well balanced intense. Structure to go another decade at least but very good now.

Wineries like Togni, Dunn, Ridge, Chateau Montelena, Forman, Dominus, etc., have shown over and over again over many, many years the potential and aging capability of California Cabernet. It is such a shame that so many “elite” wineries are ruining their wine by picking raisins and smothering them with oak. Almost as sad as St. Emilion.

A bottle of the 93 recently bested a bottle of the 92 Togni. Good bottles and all that, but this was more the 93 thrilling than the 92 underwhelming.

How’s the 2010 of this? I won a 6 pack last year but I’ve assumed they need time, so I haven’t tried one yet.

Curious to hear your thoughts on this.

The 92 is my favorite Togni of all time. Give the 2001 ten years and it will be right there with it.

The 1994 was corked, not badly, so we could see a fine wine underneath.

The 1997 was magnificent; a wine now in perfect balance despite its great concentration.

The fruit was bright, strong notes of violet and lavender, licorice and leather. On the palate perhaps a shade too much alcohol but easily absorbed into the blend of the bright fruit and layers of complexity. The finish was incredibly long, coming in easy waves of flavor. Needs another decade but a really special wine 98

Good to know. I still have the pair of bottles i bought after the barrel tasting (unfortunately I drank my 1991s a while ago). Who knows when i will get around to drinking them though.

A shame about the 1994 Mark. That, the 1991, and the 1992 were my favorite Tognis from the '90s.

I am really impressed with these wines. Even the corked bottle showed plenty of promise. I think I will have to do a fairly comprehensive tasting when things settle down.

I have nothing from the 1980s apart from 1985 which I picked up from Donn Hein on Commerce Corner. If anybody has any…

Here is an interesting tidbit on the 1997. I picked mine up, at the time, directly from the Togni’s. They mentioned that there were two bottlings, with the second getting 6 months additional barrel time. An experiment. I have never had the two side by side, although at one time I had both. No difference on the labels as I recall.