2019 TOR Melanson Vyd Pritchard Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

VIN97 The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard is one of the clear highlights in this range from Tor. Rich and creamy in the glass, the 2019 is endowed with tremendous purity of fruit matched with tannins that are unusually silky for this rugged hillside site. Nothing in particular stands out. Instead, it is the wine’s stunning balance that makes the deepest impression. Time brings out gorgeous inner perfume and aromatic presence. Superb.
JD96 There are six barrels of the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard, a 100% varietal from a great site on Pritchard Hill, just across the valley from Colgin. Its saturated purple hue is followed by a beautiful perfume of cassis and blackberry fruits as well as tobacco, scorched earth, and graphite, with an almost Graves-like gravelly earth character emerging with time in the glass. It is rich, full-bodied, and powerful, with lots of ripe tannins, terrific overall balance, and a serious, age-worthy style that still offers pleasure even today. It’s worth giving bottles 2-4 years in the cellar, and it’s going to shine for over two decades.
Estate Notes: There is the typical tannin structure off of Pritchard Hill but this year the perception of the tannin is more supple and smooth. There is roast beef, tobacco, menthol, dried herbs, vineyard dust and currants.