Nicole Elise Thomas

9.1

Date night — 6 years ago

Bill Bender

9.3

@Eric LaMasters set up a tour on Friday of La Quercia, a top end producer of specialty cured meats. We met up at the cheese bar before for Italian/Spanish and Rhône wines. @David L brought a classic Conterno. The bloodlines here are obvious, lots of depth and concentration and clear 30+ years of stuffing. — 7 years ago

Dr.Meandor

8.9

Tasted 20/01/2017

Sophisticated, structured, noble, dangerously drinkable 100% Kerner, a cross between Riesling and Sciava Grossa. Kept 4 months on its fine lees.

Pale yellow with straw glitters.
Elegant and subtle bouquet of melon, kiwi, quince, white currant, pomelo, saffron, clay, jasmine.
Perfectly balanced, racy, medium-bodied palate with vibrant acidity. Pippin apple, green gooseberry, lime, quince, alycha.
White grapefruit peels accompanied by tender mineral undertone on mouthwatering finish.
Paired extremely well with sushi. — 9 years ago

Marc Adelman

9.8

jasmine, mountain springs, lederhosen.

pairing: calabrian carbonara with la quercia 'nduja. — 9 years ago

Lorena de Idiaquez

9.0

Muy agradable. Un sabor nuevo, interesante, algo cítrico — 9 years ago

Melyss Sautter

9.0

Fruit! This is a lovely vey easy to drink wine. Soft. A tiny bit more tannin punch would put this over the edge. — 10 years ago

Ned Clark

9.0

Drinkable but uninspiring. — 10 years ago

Nicole Hakli

Sommelier The NoMad Restaurant

9.3

Kerner (schiava grossa X Riesling)- intense mineral presence w/ exotic leesy spice... Or is it the cumin lentil soup? — 11 years ago

Jayne Navarre

9.3

Gard & Deanna. — 11 years ago

Gabriele Rotti

9.2

Bolla un po' grossa... — 12 years ago

Kirsta Grauberger

9.5

14.00. Delicious. Kumquat. Yummy! — 13 years ago

David Walser

9.0

Couldn’t find a vintage. Not a great wine, just OK. In Ireland for a couple of weeks so mostly doing beers. Haven’t tried any Irish wines....if there are any... — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

One of my favorite Napa producers & vintages from Philip Togni.

On the nose, ripe, perfumed florals, creamy fruits of; blackberries, mulberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, raspberries, plum and strawberries on the glass edges. Vibrant baking spices; vanilla, light cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark smooth spices, mocha chocolate with caramel, dark berry cola, notes of black licorice, sweet tar, forest floral, fresh tobacco leaf, just a touch of dry herbs, graphite, loamy clay and dark, fresh red florals with lavender & violets.

The body is, round, ruby, lush & full. The structure, tension, length have just tipped to the very beginnings of the waning stage but, the balance is incredible. Ripe, perfumed florals, creamy fruits of; blackberries, mulberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, raspberries, plum and strawberries on the glass edges. Vibrant baking spices; vanilla, light cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark smooth spices, mocha chocolate with caramel, dark berry cola, chalky volcanic minerals with some grit, crushed dry rocks, notes of black licorice, sweet tar, forest floral, tobacco with ash, soft leather, saddle-wood, some underbrush, just a touch of dry herbs, graphite, loamy clay and dark, fresh red florals with lavender & violets. The round acidity is near perfect. The long, round, ripe, ruby, lush, well balanced finish sings on the palate for minutes.

Photos of, the Philip Togni vineyard, cellar staff-Salvador Sanchez, Philip Togni and his daughter Lisa and their barrel room.

Producer notes and history...Philip Togni was born in England and earned a degree (the Dipome National d’Oenologie) at the University of Bordeaux under Emile Peynaud. World famous Winemaker & mega Wine Consultant Michel Rolland also studied under Emile.

After his studies, Philip Togni moved to the Napa Valley in 1959. His first job was planting vines at Mayacamas.

In his career, he has been the Winemaker for Chalone, Chappellet, Cuvaison, Gallo, Inglenook and Sterling before starting his own winery.

Philip Togni was the Winemaker at Chapellet when they made one of the top wines from the 1960’s, the legendary 1969 Chapellet.

Philip Togni Vineyards were founded in 1975 when he purchased 25 acres atop Spring Mountain at an elevation of 2,000 feet. It took until 1981 to plant the vineyard. Sadly, he had to replant in the early 1990’s due to phylloxera.

The winery released its first vintage in 1983, a Sauvignon Blanc. However, he no longer produces white wine.

It took a few more years until the first Cabernet Sauvignon wines were produced at the estate. The debut vintage for Philip Togni Cabernet was the 1985 vintage. The initial vintages of Philip Togni were 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Philip Togni does not produce wines with high alcohol. A style from Napa that is sorely missed by me.

The style of his wines are Left bank. Left Bank wines had a big influence on his winemaking and the estate. However, if you have ever spent time looking at his labels for alcohol levels, they’re nowhere to be found.

During the 1980’s, the BATF allowed wineries to state that their wine had the alcoholic strength of a table wine, which was around 7% to 14%. For wineries that had not requested to change their labels, those wineries were not forced to provide specific percent of alcohol. If their labels remain unchanged from their label during the 1980’s, they were only required to state the wine as table wine.

The vineyard contains rocky and clay soils at 2,000 feet. Like Howell Mountain, the vineyard is well above the fog line, which allows for more sunlight and riper fruit.

The Estate is planted to 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.

Philip Togni makes three wines:

Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon. It is aged in 40% new, French oak barrels for an average of 20 months before bottling.

Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon is a big, powerful, tannic when wine young. PT requires longer cellar time. It’s made from ripe mountain fruit that can easily take a 10 to 20 year to fully mature. And trust me, it is closer to 20 years of aging before it’s ready to drink.

Philip Togni also produces a second wine called “Tanbark Hill.” It’s named after a prominent hill near the Estate. Tanbark Hill is a 3 1/2-acre parcel of young vines. A very good second wine for less money.

The third wine is Philip Togni Ca’ and is sweet red dessert wine that is produced from the grape, Black Hamburgh. This grape was popular in the Napa Valley before Prohibition. Black Hamburgh is also know as Black Muscat. It is a grape variety derived from the crossing of the Schiava Grossa and Muscat of Alexandria by R. Snow of Bedforshire, England in 1850, according to my studies.

Philip Togni remains a family Winery. The estate is managed by Philip Togni (in his 90’s), his wife Brigitta Togni and their daughter Lisa Togni. In time, it is expected that Lisa Togni will take over the estate.

— 7 years ago

Daniel McGeough

9.3

Mind blowing with La Quercia Ham!! — 10 years ago

Yoon Jeong Lee

9.1

Clear, medium, high viscosity, garnet.
Clear, medium+ intensity, violet, cherry, cinnamon, black currant, black pepper
Clear, medium- acidity, medium- tannin, medium alcohol, violet,cinnamon, nutmeg, toast, red cherry,
Medium finish
Smooth, silky, good balance, food friendly, developed, could drink a couple of years from now. — 10 years ago

Cma Arhar

9.0

Very good after breathing





— 11 years ago

Michael Housewright

Writer/Photographer Wine Enthusiast Magazine

9.2

Very yummy!
Served with Baia Pasta Kamut Paccheri - Maida Yellow Tomatoes - La Quercia Pancetta - pecorino Sardo — 11 years ago

with Katherine and Chris

Kevin Hindley

9.0

I really like this one. It's 2008. — 12 years ago

Karen Hughes

9.9

Loved this at Simmermans. Polettis found it at the edge. — 13 years ago

Matteo Martini

9.0

Secco e brioso — 6 years ago

Christian Letizia

9.2

Light but very good pepper and fruit mixture of flavor. Slight dust on the sides of the tongue but perfect with a dry cheese. — 7 years ago

Douglas Renall

9.1

Quercia Al Poggio - Really liked this organic Chianti Classico - epic balance and length #wine #chianti #italy — 8 years ago

Bryce Wiatrak

8.9

A pleasant Riserva leaning toward the opulent end of the spectrum while maintaining a salty acidic grip. A little too much Brett for my palate - but not egregious in that sense. — 9 years ago

Mark Rosse

9.0

Snappy! Nice quaffing — 9 years ago

Luis Arguero (@winefromAtoZ)

9.2

100% merlot - Selva grossa! Amazingly smooth. — 10 years ago

Kristen Schott

9.0

Needs to breath a bit, but so good. — 10 years ago

Jeyajeevan Karuppiah

9.1

Soft, ruby red wine — 10 years ago

Wm. Jarell Jones

10

I love Barbera's. Per Carroll Martin, it's like swallowing a softball!!!!! — 11 years ago

Kevin Crawford

9.1

Bought from winery vendor at Aviano Bazaar. This was the only red I enjoyed. If I remember correctly, they specialize in Prosecco. — 11 years ago

Tyler Altrup

9.8

Excellent, dry red — 12 years ago

with Liz