Philip Togni, Cabernet Sauvingnon, 'Tanbark Hill', Spring Mountain

There are wineries in Napa Valley that define greatness not through scale or attention, but through consistency, humility, and an unwavering commitment to tradition. Philip Togni is one of those places. High up on Spring Mountain, surrounded by dense forest and perched above the valley floor, Togni remains one of Napa’s true untouched estates. The property feels removed from modern Napa, quiet, rugged, deeply rooted in its surroundings, and almost unchanged from the day Philip Togni founded the winery in 1981. What makes Togni so special is not only the wine, but the philosophy behind it. For more than four decades, the estate has produced some of the most classically styled Cabernet Sauvignon in California. These are wines built on structure, freshness, balance, and longevity, Cabernets that speak more to the great traditions of Bordeaux than to modern trends. Vintage after vintage, Togni has remained remarkably consistent while the rest of Napa evolved around it. Untouched greatness, ready for you to experience. Today is your opportunity to discover the 2023 Tanbark Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the smartest insider bottles in all of Napa Valley. Tanbark Hill carries the same mountain character, the same disciplined winemaking philosophy, and the same unmistakable Togni identity as the flagship estate Cabernet, yet at a fraction of the price. This is not simply a second wine in the modern sense, it is a true expression of the estate, sourced from younger vines and carefully selected lots grown across the Togni vineyards on Spring Mountain. Few Cabernets today deliver this level of pedigree, authenticity, and age-worthy structure for the money.

To understand Togni, you first have to understand Napa Valley itself. Long before Napa became one of the world’s great wine regions, it was a remote agricultural valley shaped by a handful of determined pioneers. George Yount arrived in the 1830s and planted some of the region’s earliest vineyards, laying the groundwork for what Napa would eventually become. By the late 1800s, men like Charles Krug, Jacob Schram, and Gustave Niebaum of Inglenook helped establish Napa’s early identity, bringing European knowledge and ambition to California winemaking. But the valley’s path was far from easy. Phylloxera devastated vineyards, and Prohibition nearly erased the wine industry entirely. For decades afterward, Napa remained quiet and rural, known more for orchards and farmland than fine wine. The modern renaissance began in the 1960s and 1970s through producers like Robert Mondavi, Joe Heitz, Louis Martini, and Warren Winiarski, culminating in the 1976 Judgment of Paris, which changed global perceptions of California wine forever. Yet even as Napa rapidly modernized, a small group of producers remained deeply committed to a more traditional vision of Cabernet Sauvignon, wines with restraint, structure, freshness, and the ability to age gracefully for decades. Philip Togni became one of the defining figures of that movement.

Philip Togni arrived in Napa Valley already possessing one of the great résumés in California wine. Educated at the University of Bordeaux, he worked at Chalone, Mayacamas, and Chappellet before founding his own estate on Spring Mountain in 1981. From the very beginning, Togni understood the potential of mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyards sit high above Napa Valley on volcanic soils at elevations approaching 2,000 feet, where cool nights preserve freshness and rocky terrain naturally limits vigor, producing wines with depth, structure, and remarkable tension. The winery remains family-run today, with Philip’s daughter Lisa Togni helping guide the estate while preserving the philosophy that has made the wines so revered among collectors and sommeliers. The flagship Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Napa Valley’s truly great cellar wines, capable of evolving beautifully for decades. Tanbark Hill offers a more approachable expression of the estate while remaining unmistakably Togni. Rather than coming from a single vineyard block, Tanbark Hill is composed from younger-vine fruit and selected lots grown throughout the estate vineyards. The goal is not to make a lesser wine, but a wine that captures the soul and character of Togni in a style that can be enjoyed earlier while still possessing the structure and balance to age. The same principles guide every bottle here: mountain fruit, restrained ripeness, freshness over excess, structure over weight, and a deep respect for longevity and terroir. In today’s Napa Valley, that approach has become increasingly rare.

The 2023 Tanbark Hill Cabernet Sauvignon opens with aromas of cassis, blackberry, cedar, graphite, pine forest, dried herbs, and crushed rock. There is a freshness and lift here that immediately speaks to Spring Mountain. On the palate, the wine is beautifully structured, balancing dark berry fruit with notes of tobacco leaf, cocoa, bay laurel, and savory mineral tones that reflect the estate’s volcanic soils and cool mountain climate. The tannins are fine and persistent, giving the wine both immediate appeal and the structure and balance to age gracefully for 25 years, though I would not be surprised to see well-stored bottles evolve beautifully beyond that. It carries richness without heaviness and finishes long, composed, and energetic. This is classic Napa Cabernet viewed through a traditional lens, precise, age-worthy, and deeply expressive of place. At the table, Tanbark Hill shines alongside grilled lamb chops with rosemary, roast leg of lamb, ribeye steak, braised short ribs, wild mushrooms, or aged cheeses like Comté and cheddar. A short decant allows the wine’s aromatics and texture to fully emerge. For collectors, sommeliers, and lovers of traditionally styled Napa Cabernet, Philip Togni remains one of the valley’s enduring benchmarks, and the 2023 Tanbark Hill stands as one of the finest values to emerge from this legendary Spring Mountain estate.