Tor Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Vine Hill Ranch is found in Napa's famed Oakville appellation, where five decades of work from the Phillips family have transformed the site into one of Napa's greatest vineyards. An excellent example of why this vineyard is so brilliant, this 2021 from Tor shows all the beautiful, balance, and grace we've come to expect from their bottlings. Equal parts red, blue, and black fruits, the amazing mid-palate and long, silky finish make this a truly stunning wine. 

97/100 - A blend from three blocks of this famed vineyard at the southern end of Oakville, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch combines scents of pencil shavings, subtle hints of thyme and sage, black cherries and mint. Medium to full-bodied, it doesn't have the sheer power of some of the other Tor bottlings but makes up for it in complexity. Silky, streamlined on the palate and boasting tremendous length on the finish, it's another winner from Tor Kenward and winemaker Jeff Ames. - Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate

97/100 - The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard is fabulous. Dark and brooding, with tons of intensity, the 2021 is all class. In this edition, the TOR wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon blended from Blocks 3, 4 and 6, making it one of the very few wines from this site (aside from the VHR wine) that is made from several blocks. That practice allows for a high degree of fine-tuning, which very much comes through in this wine. I especially admire the energy here. This is the first vintage of TOR Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet that does not include a touch of Petit Verdot. Even so, it is incredibly special. Dark fruit, lavender, espresso, mocha, leather and dried herbs linger. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous 

18+/20 - Deep purple in colour. Soft sweet black-fruit profile on the nose with cedar spice and candied violets with a predictably viscous weightiness on the palate but then … there's so much savoury rockiness and the finish goes on forever. Supple tannins pulled tight by tense acidity. Sinew with plush baby fat. I'd love to see this with a few more years’ bottle age. - Samantha Cole-Johnson, JancisRobinson.com

98/100 - Extremely aromatic with violets, blue berries and black currants. Then notes of graphite and lead pencil come through. Amazing aromas. Full-bodied with rich and dusty tannins that show fantastic length and intensity. Bark and wet earth undertones with black mushrooms. Needs three or four years to come around. Best after 2026. - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com