I managed to pick up a case of this at auction on Saturday, and decided to pull a bottle from the cellar, now that I had some back-ups. It was a spectacular bottle; a wonderful complex nose, with some fruit but also a ton of incredible aromatics. Spices, eucalyptus, licorice, lavender, and some meaty quality. Well structured, with a slight hardness to the tannins which will soften with time. A long, drawn out and layered finish with a little the spikiness. Could probably do with a few years, but an extraordinary bottle. I have enjoyed a lot of Togni wines, but I have to say this one was the best to date. The second highest score I have given to a California wine. 98 points.
Mark, great to finally agree with you big time ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I adore this producer, and though these beautiful ‘Bordeaux-look-alikes’ habitually need a good 15 years to reveal all their glories, I advise owners of the 1997 to try one soon. It is my impression that it has now reached its plateau of maturity, and is currently at the same stage of development as a fine 1990 claret such as Leoville Las Cases, Grand Puy Lacoste or Pichon Baron.
Togni 1997
sB = tasted single blind
dB = tasted double blind
sB 04-28 2003
Between dark and opaque red colour.
Young and firm very fruity aroma of blackcurrant. Pure and bright. Every new pour brings out additional nuances, until it settles in the glass exhibiting some stern, slightly bitter nuances of eucalyptus and licorice.
Taste tight and youthfully bitter with quite a prominent tannic backbone. Mid-palate and finish concentrated and, though promising, somewhat reticent and cool. Well-proportioned and stylish with good length. Additional cellaring required.
92+/
dB 03-10 2007
Dark colour between red and maturing.
Deep and licorice-infused aroma of great depth and some signs of maturity. Wonderful fruitiness as of blackcurrant and cherry. Dark chocolate and coffee in the background. delicious!
Taste well defined but quite soft and plummy; plush and velvety with not much discernable tannin, it seems to be approaching its plateau of maturity, where it will undoubtedly remain for years.
Very good indeed.
93/
sB 04-28 2007
Wonderful blackcurrant-dominated nose of opulence and richness with an almost musky spiciness to it. Seductive, incredibly beautiful and surprisingly developed.
Taste impressively pure and elegant with mouth-watering freshness and very fine balance. Gentle, long and aromatic aftertaste.
95/
sB 06-25 2013
Between dark and medium depth af colour with maturing rim approaching tuillé.
Cedar-wood, burning sealing wax, pronounced salinity and warm rhubarb-pie in the complex, bisquity and deeply fruity aroma. Raspberry, blueberry and blackcurrant, emmenthaler cheese and forest floor.
Richly fruity taste though attractively poised and almost weightless, sophisticated and extremely well-balanced. Only little (ultra-soft) tannin remain to be dissolved, and the long and satisfying aftertaste confirms the impression of a wine ‘a point’, but still vital and destined for graceful aging.
96/
Peter
Yah.
97 is killer wine.
Have some Togni from 96 and 01 remaining.
My son’s birth year. I have a few of those…thanks for the notes.
What CA wine got your highest score?
We had one on Saturday.
It was possibly the most TCA infested wine I have ever tasted.
Tears were shed.
Gemello 1970. 100 points in 2001 when I did a “cover” of Spurrier’s Paris tasting on its 25th anniversary. A freakishly good wine, although Gilman who attended the tasting is still convinced the sommelier screwed up, and poured the 1975 La Mission.
I took my lone bottle of this to dinner Saturday evening. When first opened, aromatics were there but it was muted and just plain weird on the palate. However, after spending time in the glass, it sorted itself out and kept getting better and better. Fruit began to emerge as well as cedar and tobacco. It was stunning.
Wow, Peter - comparing this wine to the '90 LLC is incredibly high praise, IMO.
I will have to pull a bottle soon to see if you know what you’re talking about 
.
Had a magnum in late May…with air in a decanter in absolutely blossomed into my WOTY…incredible.
Exciting notes. Thank you. I have a '91 in my cellar I need to create a special occasion for.
Hi Bob,
I didn’t actually, just commented on the similar stage of development…but quality wise they can’t be that far apart
Cool. I’ll have to dig and find mine next time I’m in… Damn, why don’t I update CT?
Agreed. I have opened many Tognis, and they all are closed at the beginning, but open up dramatically over the course of 30 minutes.
Something I have noticed in my 2 most recent Togni is the alcohol is not on the label. I looked at this 1997 and a 1995 I had the previous week. I thought it was required to be there, yet I haven’t found it.
Beautiful wine indeed. Galloni brought one to our group dinner. it SHINED.
I believe it is labeled as table wine which is an allowed label for 11%-14% alcohol range.
The only vintage that hasn’t impressed me was 2000. I’ve had the 91 and 94 at least. I have a solo 98, not sure when that will be opened. The best wine tour/tasting I’ve taken as Togni was there answering all questions. A very gracious gentleman!
Not to thread drift too far but I had a 97 Pride Cab Res a few years ago, which is made in a neighboring vineyard, that was absolutely brilliant. A great year on Spring Mountain indeed.
Agree. I decanted the 1997 about 2 hours ahead of the dinner, and it still improved in the glass. Interestingly, by the end of the evening, it had not totally shed that final edge of tannin.