A solid Cab as stated in previous notes. 92+ Points and based on the past, perhaps better? Dark berries and cedar aromas, medium plus bodied and a decent finish.
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This is a Cabernet of fine quality, drinking at a well at this point. Shows nicely as a pop and pour but with more than half a bottle remaining, there could be improvement. It will be interesting to see how this wine shows on day 2. 92+/ 93 Points.
Day 2 shows notable improvement. The wine has evolved nicely gaining traction, showing good extraction and ripe dark cherry and red berry flavors. I like Tor wines, the show well with some cellaring and although these are worthy of attention, the price of their single vineyard varieties are overpriced in my opinion. 94 Points.
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According to the winery, this is almost exclusively Howell mountain fruit- a single vineyard Cimarossa was not made in this vintage. 100% cab, all new oak. Drinking beautifully at present. Great first sips. Blackberry jam, Asian spice, richly fruited, smooth tannins. Nicely done. I drank this next to a 2015 Vice Versa NV. The Tor was more satisfying
Not accessible at first, which isn't a surprise, but the aromas suggest a variety of exciting things happening here. After about 20 minutes things change dramatically: herbal, spicy, black currant and velvet tannins complement a sharply acidic mouthfeel. Clearly this is a wine to taste over a few hours and enjoy as its evolves in your glass. After almost an hour of air time, this wine is coming together: More blueberry with the black currant, some earthy flavors with the herbal notes. Bold, really fills your entire head with aromas and flavors. Fun wine.
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Just a touch lighter in color than I expected for this wine, with more brick red to go with the purple. Beautifully aromatic with blackberry, followed by red cherry and raspberries. Similar notes on the palate with bright acidity and clean winemaking. The finish has smooth, sweet tannins. Extremely approachable. Overall a very nice package. If I was tasting room it completely blind I might have guessed an upper level bottling from chateauneuf du Pape (St prefert?). The bright red fruit and smooth, ripe body is not quite what you'd expect from a Napa cab. Not at all a criticism as I love CdP, just an observation that it doesn't have that deep dark fruit and earthiness, particularly for a wine that predominantly comes from Howell mountain. Can't wait to have our other bottle!
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PnP and was hitting its stride a few minutes in. This seems to have settled down a bit from my last tasting and drinking wonderfully now. Comes off as a previous taster commented as more Valley floor than Howell Mountain (had the Tor Howell Mountain Cim right after) but for a second label/blend this was well worth the price of admission and very different than the ‘14 or ‘16. Dark fruits with a hint of sweetness. Drink now and later! Drink within the next 2-3 years. 92-93
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Had this at a French bistro in Philly last night with my family. For me, this checked all the boxes for a Napa valley designate. Soft, opulent, medium to full bodied mixed fruit with great freshness. Shows sweet vanilla and oak throughout with leather, menthol, and cloves. No hard edges, alcohol is undetectable. Simply delicious. At the moment my favorite entry level Napa valley cab.
Price has spiked $20 in the past 3 years, otherwise it would be a screaming value
This boisterous and fruity Cabernet probably needs another year or two to gain more focus and shed its baby fat. It's fun right now, but it has the potential to graduate from a guilty pleasure into a defensible one. Wait on this until 2019 or later.
Cherry red in color and medium in body (as Badmonkey correctly says - medium plus), the wine has aromas of blueberry pie, red licorice, and cloves. Tastes of milk chocolate, black cherry, and vanilla extract, with a silky and sweet finish that is almost - but not quite - jammy. 14.8% alcohol. There's upside if this can calm down over the next few years. If drinking now, decant at least two hours. My favorite period of this wine was on the second day, after about an hour of air, when the sweetness had subsided - and the wine was just singing.
I was surprised to see this was predominately Cimarossa (Howell Mountain) fruit, since it has the softness and sweetness of a valley wine. This just might be Jeff Ames' style, with the mountain fruit adding a touch of restraint. Knowing the origin, though, I thought this was like a leaner version of a Outpost - crazy fruit, a little extra roundness, but most likely good things ahead. 92+ for now, with potential in 2019 and beyond.
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A pleasant surprise, better than I anticipated. 92 plus points for now and probably better. I'm not finish with this one. Day 2: Pretty tasty this Cab is a blend from a number of very solid designations. Dark and red berry fruit, cassis and a hint of oak. A solid, medium plus bodied wine with nice concentration and flavors, I like it.
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A blend from various vineyards - Cimarossa, To-Kalon, Tierra Roja, Herb Lamb, and Vine Hill Ranch. However, this vintage is predominantly from the Cimarossa Vineyard and smaller percentages from the others. Apparently there isn't a 2015 Cimarossa single vineyard cab due to the lower yields from the 2015 vintage and the Cimarossa fruit was used as the base for their entry level cab. Dark black fruit with a touch of red - blackberry, dark currants, and a little dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth/concentration. Nice rich flavors of dark berries and a little spice. Fairly long finish. Decanted for one hour and drank over another three. Improved a little with time but drinking quite well after the decant despite its youth. Probably the best entry level Tor cab that I've had which isn't a surprise due to the Cimarossa/Howell Mtn fruit.
I agree with perfectvintage. This wine is is immediately approachable, great fruit, smooth sweet polished tannins. I think we will also get 10-15 years from this wine. I buy ALL the Tor reds at all price points, all great wines and this years napa blend is a steal for the price. I will order more before it disappears. Cant wait to open some of the big boys.
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One of the best Napa Valley designated wines Tor has made, the single vineyard bottlings are typically fantastic but blending worked fabulously for the 2015 vintage. Wonderful aromatics. A complex black fruited offering, balanced with acidity and ending with friendly polished tannins making it immediately enjoyable.
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7/15/2023 - bugdoced Likes this wine: 95 Points
dark brooding delicious
I liked this by an edge over the Greer but who cares?
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7/28/2022 - Yack Man Likes this wine: 93 Points
A solid Cab as stated in previous notes. 92+ Points and based on the past, perhaps better? Dark berries and cedar aromas, medium plus bodied and a decent finish.
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5/8/2022 - wineoracle wrote: 92 Points
Dark berries, very smooth
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3/4/2022 - Yack Man Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is a Cabernet of fine quality, drinking at a well at this point. Shows nicely as a pop and pour but with more than half a bottle remaining, there could be improvement. It will be interesting to see how this wine shows on day 2. 92+/ 93 Points.
Day 2 shows notable improvement. The wine has evolved nicely gaining traction, showing good extraction and ripe dark cherry and red berry flavors. I like Tor wines, the show well with some cellaring and although these are worthy of attention, the price of their single vineyard varieties are overpriced in my opinion. 94 Points.
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10/1/2021 - Stevethebeav Likes this wine: 94 Points
Excellent. Coming together but a lot more time left on this one.
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2/13/2021 - Franken Berry Likes this wine: 94 Points
According to the winery, this is almost exclusively Howell mountain fruit- a single vineyard Cimarossa was not made in this vintage. 100% cab, all new oak. Drinking beautifully at present. Great first sips. Blackberry jam, Asian spice, richly fruited, smooth tannins. Nicely done. I drank this next to a 2015 Vice Versa NV. The Tor was more satisfying
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5/25/2019 - huevosconvino Likes this wine:
Not accessible at first, which isn't a surprise, but the aromas suggest a variety of exciting things happening here. After about 20 minutes things change dramatically: herbal, spicy, black currant and velvet tannins complement a sharply acidic mouthfeel. Clearly this is a wine to taste over a few hours and enjoy as its evolves in your glass. After almost an hour of air time, this wine is coming together: More blueberry with the black currant, some earthy flavors with the herbal notes. Bold, really fills your entire head with aromas and flavors. Fun wine.
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5/4/2019 - DougSamuel Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just a touch lighter in color than I expected for this wine, with more brick red to go with the purple. Beautifully aromatic with blackberry, followed by red cherry and raspberries. Similar notes on the palate with bright acidity and clean winemaking. The finish has smooth, sweet tannins. Extremely approachable. Overall a very nice package. If I was tasting room it completely blind I might have guessed an upper level bottling from chateauneuf du Pape (St prefert?). The bright red fruit and smooth, ripe body is not quite what you'd expect from a Napa cab. Not at all a criticism as I love CdP, just an observation that it doesn't have that deep dark fruit and earthiness, particularly for a wine that predominantly comes from Howell mountain. Can't wait to have our other bottle!
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4/19/2019 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP and was hitting its stride a few minutes in. This seems to have settled down a bit from my last tasting and drinking wonderfully now. Comes off as a previous taster commented as more Valley floor than Howell Mountain (had the Tor Howell Mountain Cim right after) but for a second label/blend this was well worth the price of admission and very different than the ‘14 or ‘16. Dark fruits with a hint of sweetness. Drink now and later! Drink within the next 2-3 years. 92-93
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3/1/2019 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP no notes. Medium bodied with sweet blackberry and some herbal notes. Drying finish with fully integrated tannins. Acidity still strong. Solid 92.
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1/6/2019 - Franken Berry Likes this wine: 94 Points
Had this at a French bistro in Philly last night with my family. For me, this checked all the boxes for a Napa valley designate. Soft, opulent, medium to full bodied mixed fruit with great freshness. Shows sweet vanilla and oak throughout with leather, menthol, and cloves. No hard edges, alcohol is undetectable. Simply delicious. At the moment my favorite entry level Napa valley cab.
Price has spiked $20 in the past 3 years, otherwise it would be a screaming value
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12/15/2018 - BigBoy_Sonoma Likes this wine: 90 Points
Black fruit, herbal notes, tannins, cedar, oak. This wine has tanins for days. A-
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11/28/2018 - msuwine wrote: 92 Points
This boisterous and fruity Cabernet probably needs another year or two to gain more focus and shed its baby fat. It's fun right now, but it has the potential to graduate from a guilty pleasure into a defensible one. Wait on this until 2019 or later.
Cherry red in color and medium in body (as Badmonkey correctly says - medium plus), the wine has aromas of blueberry pie, red licorice, and cloves. Tastes of milk chocolate, black cherry, and vanilla extract, with a silky and sweet finish that is almost - but not quite - jammy. 14.8% alcohol. There's upside if this can calm down over the next few years. If drinking now, decant at least two hours. My favorite period of this wine was on the second day, after about an hour of air, when the sweetness had subsided - and the wine was just singing.
I was surprised to see this was predominately Cimarossa (Howell Mountain) fruit, since it has the softness and sweetness of a valley wine. This just might be Jeff Ames' style, with the mountain fruit adding a touch of restraint. Knowing the origin, though, I thought this was like a leaner version of a Outpost - crazy fruit, a little extra roundness, but most likely good things ahead. 92+ for now, with potential in 2019 and beyond.
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9/29/2018 - Yack Man wrote: 92 Points
Good wine and showing well despite its youth. 92 points and still inline with previous notes
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7/14/2018 - TomOfCT Likes this wine: 94 Points
Early, but drinking well already. 375ml, as a second bottle after a 14 HL.
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4/5/2018 - TomOfCT Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still early. Decent structure, though a bit "grapier" than I would have expected.
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3/23/2018 - Yack Man wrote: 92 Points
A pleasant surprise, better than I anticipated. 92 plus points for now and probably better. I'm not finish with this one.
Day 2:
Pretty tasty this Cab is a blend from a number of very solid designations. Dark and red berry fruit, cassis and a hint of oak. A solid, medium plus bodied wine with nice concentration and flavors, I like it.
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3/10/2018 - Badmonkey wrote: 93 Points
A blend from various vineyards - Cimarossa, To-Kalon, Tierra Roja, Herb Lamb, and Vine Hill Ranch. However, this vintage is predominantly from the Cimarossa Vineyard and smaller percentages from the others. Apparently there isn't a 2015 Cimarossa single vineyard cab due to the lower yields from the 2015 vintage and the Cimarossa fruit was used as the base for their entry level cab. Dark black fruit with a touch of red - blackberry, dark currants, and a little dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth/concentration. Nice rich flavors of dark berries and a little spice. Fairly long finish. Decanted for one hour and drank over another three. Improved a little with time but drinking quite well after the decant despite its youth. Probably the best entry level Tor cab that I've had which isn't a surprise due to the Cimarossa/Howell Mtn fruit.
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11/23/2017 - dutradan@msn.com Likes this wine: 93 Points
I agree with perfectvintage. This wine is is immediately approachable, great fruit, smooth sweet polished tannins. I think we will also get 10-15 years from this wine. I buy ALL the Tor reds at all price points, all great wines and this years napa blend is a steal for the price. I will order more before it disappears. Cant wait to open some of the big boys.
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9/2/2017 - PerfectVintage Likes this wine: 94 Points
One of the best Napa Valley designated wines Tor has made, the single vineyard bottlings are typically fantastic but blending worked fabulously for the 2015 vintage. Wonderful aromatics. A complex black fruited offering, balanced with acidity and ending with friendly polished tannins making it immediately enjoyable.
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8/19/2017 - BigBoy_Sonoma Likes this wine: 93 Points
black fruit, cedar, pepper, leather, spice, tannins nicely integrated. This was the most approachable now of the 2015. A/A-
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