2021 TOR, Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa Valley, California, USA
Critics reviews
Bottled just one week before I tasted it, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville was showing rather well, with gentle floral and sage nuances set against a backdrop of rich loam and black cherries. Yes, it's still a bit tight, but this medium to full-bodied effort boasts silky tannins and a long finish. Don't overlook it because it isn't vineyard-designated.
Drink 2024 - 2035
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (June 2023)
A very firm and polished red with currants, chocolate and salted almonds. Terra-cotta. Medium body. Juicy and flavorful with extremely polished tannins. Very creamy textured. Give it two or three years to come around.
Drink after 2025
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (December 2023)
Checking in as 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot, all from Oakville, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville sports a dense purple hue to go with straight-up textbook Oakville notes of darker fruits, iron, black olives, and tobacco, with just a kiss of background spring flowers. It's medium to full-bodied, round, textured, beautifully balanced, and has tons of classic varietal character. It's a brilliant value to enjoy any time over the coming 15 years.
Drink 2024 - 2038
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (December 2023)
About this WINE
TOR Wines
Located in the heart of Napa Valley, California, TOR Wines was founded by Tor Kenward, an industry veteran with over four decades of experience. Kenward's philosophy emphasises minimal intervention and a focus on terroir, allowing the natural characteristics of the grapes and the land to shine through in each bottle.
The winery sources its grapes, mainly Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, from some of the most renowned vineyards in Napa Valley and beyond, including Beckstoffer To Kalon, Vine Hill Ranch, and Melanson Vineyard. The winemaking process includes hand-harvesting, careful grape selection, and ageing in French oak barrels.
Sustainability is a core value at TOR Wines. The winery is committed to sustainable farming practices and works closely with vineyard partners to ensure their farming methods are environmentally friendly.
Oakville
Oakville is a renowned wine region in the heart of Napa Valley, California, USA. It is considered one of the premier appellations for producing high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The favourable climate, diverse soil types, and skilled winemaking practices have contributed to Oakville’s reputation as a top wine-producing area.
The primary grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives in the region’s warm climate and well-drained soils. However, you can also find other Bordeaux varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, as well as some white wine grapes like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Oakville benefits from a Mediterranean climate with warm, sunny days and cool nights. The region’s proximity to San Pablo Bay allows for morning fog, which provides natural cooling, making it ideal for slow grape ripening and flavour development.
The diverse soils add to the complexity of the wines produced. The region features a mix of volcanic, alluvial, and sedimentary soils that offer distinct characteristics to the grapes. The Napa River runs through the area, further enriching the soils with sediment deposits.
Oakville is home to some of the most prestigious and iconic wineries in Napa Valley. Prominent names like Robert Mondavi Winery, Opus One, Far Niente, Screaming Eagle, and Harlan Estate have put Oakville on the world wine map.
Winemakers in Oakville employ various traditional and modern winemaking techniques to ensure the highest quality wines. Careful grape selection, hand harvesting, small-lot fermentations, oak barrel aging, and blending are standard practices used to craft complex and balanced wines.
In recognition of the unique terroir and distinct characteristics of the wines produced, Oakville was designated as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1993. This official appellation status further solidifies the region’s significance in the wine industry.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Buying options
Add to wishlist
Description
Bottled just one week before I tasted it, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville was showing rather well, with gentle floral and sage nuances set against a backdrop of rich loam and black cherries. Yes, it's still a bit tight, but this medium to full-bodied effort boasts silky tannins and a long finish. Don't overlook it because it isn't vineyard-designated.
Drink 2024 - 2035
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (June 2023)
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee