Philip Togni

The story of Philip Togni Vineyard (https://www.philiptognivineyard.com/) is one of pioneership and lineage. Pedigree is a central concept to fine wine and those who pay attention to such things need Philip Togni’s Cabernets on their radars: there is a clear line of descent from the foundations of 20^th century Bordeaux, through the glory days of post-Prohibition Napa, via some of the greatest California wines of all time, to the vintages being produced on Spring Mountain today.

Philippe Togni studied under Professor Emile Peynaud, in Bordeaux, in the 1950s. More than anyone else, Peynaud shaped the Bordeaux that we know today. Without his influence – spanning everything from a scientific understanding of malolactic fermentation, to a selection of the best fruit, to a conviction that successful winemaking is rooted in skilful tasting – the likes of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Margaux would not have evolved into the icons we now recognise.

During this time, Philip worked as the deputy general manager of Margaux classified growth Chateau Lascombes (https://chateau-lascombes.com/en).

In 1959 Philip Togni re-located to Napa, which was shaking off the dust of Prohibition and entering a golden period during the 1960s and 70s, preparing for triumph at the Judgement of Paris in 1976. Positions at a series of leading estates saw Philip’s Bordeaux expertise brought to bear on a succession of Napa vintages as he worked at Mayacamas, Inglenook, Chalone and others.

In the late 1960s Philip Togni made Chapellet’s 1969 Cabernet Sauvignon. This is now an iconic wine, widely regarded as the greatest ever made in California. According to critic Antonio Galloni, this wine is, “one of the greatest and most singular wines ever made in Napa Valley.” (www.vinous.com)

After a period at Cuvaison, producing yet more benchmark Cabernets, Philip and his wife bought a property on Spring Mountain in the early 1980s. The inaugural vintage of Philip Togni Vineyard was 1983 – still drinking at peak today.

Now on the home straight towards his 100^th birthday, Philip Togni is still active in his eponymous winery although his daughter, Lisa, has assumed an increasingly central role during his latter years.

Philip Togni Cabernets are ‘mountain wines’, grown at an elevation of nearly 700 metres above Napa’s valley floor. The style is neo-classical, paying homage at once to Philip’s Bordeaux training and to the classical, yet distinctively Californian, wines of mid-20^th century Napa. These are wines playing to the savoury and structured end of the spectrum. They are mid-weight, rather than powerful, and often privilege intensity over concentration. Togni wines belong to an entirely different realm than the stereotype of the Napa Cult Cab.

I recently enjoyed a Philip Togni 1985 at a dinner featuring some very serious Bordeaux. Served alongside Chateaux Lynch Bages and Pichon Lalande of the same vintage, the Napa wine quietly outshone its tablemates. After 40 years in bottle the Togni ’85 was showing greater depth, fruit and vibrancy than this pair of famous Pauillacs. This wasn’t anything as crass as a beauty pageant or a sort of vinous flex, it was a great bottle slowly unfurling to reveal an understated and nothing-to-prove majesty. Philip Togni wines belong amongst the 1^st growths of California and have a lineage reaching back to the 1^st growths of Bordeaux; that is why they deserve your attention and cellar space.