The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is stunningly beautiful, especially in the way it brings together intense, voluptuous fruit and structure. Racy and polished in the glass, the 2012 races across the palate with intense dark red stone fruit, spice, cedar, tobacco and floral notes, all in an energetic, vibrant style that suggests 25-30 years of aging will be a breeze. What a gorgeous wine this is.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, comes from steep mountain vineyards at the top of the Napa side of Spring Mountain. Aromas of black olives, tapenade, creme de cassis, licorice and truffles emerge from this opaque ruby/purple-colored, youthful 2004. Togni’s spiritual reference point is Bordeaux more than Napa Valley, and his wines seem to represent a hypothetical melange of those two distinctive schools of wine. Still backward, but rich, full-bodied and promising, this brilliant 2004 is 5-7 years away from its adolescence; it should age for 30-40 years. The iconic “mountain man,” Philip Togni has made many great wines that have clearly stood the test of time. The oldest vintages I have in my cellar go back to the mid-eighties, and I always recommend that purchasers of Togni’s wines forget them for at least ten years.