2015 TOR Wines Oakville Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Napa 750 ml

“The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside is a tour de force!” said Jeb Dunnuck of today’s 98-point TOR release. From a vineyard encircled by Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, and Rudd, today’s offer is an outstanding example of why the Oakville hillsides are home to many of Napa’s greatest Cabernets, and a rare chance to own a piece of deliciously svelte liquid history.

Tor Kenward is hands-down one of our winemaking heroes. After studying under legends including Robert Mondavi, André Tchelistcheff, Warren Winiarski, and Ed Sbragia, his bottles capture the essence of Napa’s standout terroir, and showcase it with elegance and class. At $155 per bottle, the 2015 TOR Oakville Hillside is a steal compared to other 98-point Cabernets from 2015 such as Schrader’s Las Piedras ($374) and To Kalon RBS ($413) bottlings, and its cult neighbor Screaming Eagle ($3,363).

Last February, when we ran into Tor Kenward at Premiere Napa Valley, an annual industry charity auction, our conversation eventually turned to this wine, which had never before been offered to anyone other than those on TOR’s tightly managed subscriber list—but we had to ask… 

Thanks to your support, we managed to talk him into another allocation but—since we aren’t the only ones head over heels for his luxurious, elegant Cabs—we were only able to peel away 240 bottles of the wine that Jeb Dunnuck praised for its “full-bodied richness,” “impeccable balance” and “plenty of depth,” in his 98-point review.

As 40-year Napa veteran Tor says, “You might expect the wines to be massive, but they are very perfumed, dark, and complex—more like Screaming Eagle.” We found this to be exactly the case when we revisited this 2015 last month—the palate is refined with a dense core balanced by fresh acidity, granitic minerality, and rich, fine tannins. It boasts excellent length with a black fruit and bramble finish. 

If you’ve ever spoken to Tor, you know that for him, all wines begin in the vineyard. The Tierra Rioja Vineyard, in the foothills of the western side of Oakville, is a small four-acre jewel. Encircled by Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, and Rudd, this is one of the prime places in Napa Valley to grow classically structured, compellingly perfumed Cabernet Sauvignon. As its name suggests, it is peppered with big red rocks, and this wine is from the terraced hillsides directly beneath Dalla Valle. 

It is impossible to pick which TOR wine is our favorite, but there is something truly magical about his 2015 TOR Oakville Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a profound, majestically structured and sveltely textured Cabernet Sauvignon with an inky black color, an array of black fruits, exotic spices, and licorice, with clove, dark chocolate, and fine French oak. In short, a wine that it’s easy to wax poetic about.

The wine was made in such a small quantity that it was fermented in one single small tank. The fruit is so tiny-berried with such ripe skins that Tor’s winemaker Jeff Ames (of Wine Access favorite Rudius!) kept the juice on the skins for a full month, allowing it to pick up depth and richness. Just 12 Taransaud and Darnajou French oak barrels were selected to age the final blend, and the better part of one of those barrels is on offer today.