February 25, 2024 - Decanted sediment out, put back in bottle and had 1.5 hours later. Amazing how young this wine appeared. Great color still plenty fruit on the palate. What a joy to drink. Can't believe it's 28 yrs old!
November 11, 2023 - I liked this wine from Togni, a highly renown producer, but it was a bit circuitous in getting there. I’ve always found his wines to have that vegetal, green pepper note to them that I have found off putting. This wine was the same but it more or less blew off after a couple of hours. Color is still nicely dark purple-red. Nose has aforementioned “green” notes but also some pleasant baked cranberry, cassis, and pencil. Very classically styled as everyone knows, this is a Bordeaux blend in both varietal and style. Drank undecanted. Think this is close to being fully mature. Still not convinced with this producer despite stellar reputation.
April 9, 2023 - Fully tertiary (felt 10 years older than what you would expect). Nice though. Drink up.
March 8, 2023 - The 96 Togni is what I would call the Bordeaux lover's California Cabernet Sauvignon. Not heavy. Not over-extracted. Not high in alcohol. Just beautiful fruit and balance. All the tertiary elements you would expect in an older Bordeaux. Ah, for the good old days when you actually could pair California Cabernets with food.
February 14, 2023 - The Inaugural Paris Wine Event (Papies at Passy, Paris): Decanted for a good hour and on the advisable side of things.
We are not sure if it’s the bottle or the fact that it was tried side by side with the exceptional 1997 Sassicaia ( Papies 96) which overshadowed it but was a lower notch of a wine that the 95-96 we have been rating this over the last decade in 7 occasions. Took some time to get going and it was only at the end of the dinner that this really came out of its shell and excelled. This effectively is a Pauillac with an extra dollop of fruit as is a Napa Cab after all. Well mannered fruit, polished and well round on the palate , has a softness to it , round tannin but ever so present. Good level of fruit and devout of any burnt feel that we have come across with others of its kin in 1996 , pure and effortless. Easy 94 albeit the first glass was a 92 . Happily we have 6 more! A lot of life here.
July 28, 2022 - "Guy's Night": Aged Napa (Joe & Khem's Place, Mpls): Very dark red/purple color. PNP. Drank a glass plus over 2 hours. Drank in a flight with a '96 Abreu Madrona Ranch and a '96 Heitz Martha's. I was all over this wine. This is my kind of wine with such complexity and depth. Tobacco, pencil, forest floor, leather, underbrush, brambly dark fruits, cassis, mulberry and some damp earth. The palate shows cassis, black cherry, tart dark fruits, a lot of leather, hints of menthol, and so much pencil. There's a satiny texture, a deeply earthy core with forest floor but plenty of pretty dark fruits and excellent integration on the full bodied frame. I vacillated back forth between the Togni and the Martha's as my overall favorite, but ultimately gave the nod to the fruit in the Martha's. But dang they were close for me, as was the entire grouping tonight. 95+ to 96pts.
July 28, 2022 - Guys Night Out - California Dreaming! (Joe's House): Splash double decant - An exceptional effort for this wine, drinking quite well! Nose showed some florals, dark fruit, leather, tar and earthy notes. Palate was showing loads of tertiary flavors, but also a fair amount of fruit. Just slightly passed prime for my palate, but those who are gaga for tertiary flavors at the expense of fruit, will like this even more down the road. Lots of leather, pencil and tobacco, with dark fruit, resolved tannins and a medium finish. In a nice spot right now, IMO. 94-95 points (would have rated even higher with a little more fruit showing, but still a pretty good balance, just tilted slightly to tertiary) My number 4 (but all very close!)
July 28, 2022 - Guys night - Napa (Joe's house): Double decanted, drank 2 small glass over 3 hours. This started out liquerish like cassis. It opened up over 1 hour, showing graphite and slight iodine, yet remained very red-fruited throughout.
October 19, 2021 - Opened not decanted and consumed over several hours. Cork was depressed. I bought this many years ago at auction and sat on it until now. On opening I thought it was corked but it blew off after about 15 minutes. I found strong notes of must and mushrooms with the fruit rather muddled. Others enjoyed this and noted the bell pepper characteristic although I did not.
March 4, 2021 - popped and decanted prior to serving. Initially a little closed, with smoke and graphite dominating the nose, and not the fruit I smelled while decanting. Really surprised that I didn't get any ripe and sweet fruit out of this wine.