Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, Philip Togni Vineyard 1995

Cabernet Sauvignon is king at Togni, and they are wines of extraordinary concentration, flavor dimension, and aging potential. The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon, a vintage that produced a number of top-notch wines (as well as some with rough tannin and muted personalities), is one of the year's bright shining successes. The wine displays an opaque purple color, as well as a lavishly intense nose of blackberry/blueberry/cassis fruit intermingled with chocolate and olive nuances. Dense and fruit-driven, with awesome levels of glycerin and extract, this formidably endowed, moderately tannic wine should be at its best with another 7-8 years of cellaring. Once again, Philip Togni has produced a wine with 25 or more years of aging potential.

Part mountain goat, part man, Philip Togni continues to fight vineyard diseases such as Pierce's, and frightfully low yields from his formidably steep Spring Mountain vineyards to produce some of California's most exciting wines.