2016 TOR Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside Oakville Napa Valley 750 ml

Surrounded by Greatness, TOR Rises to the Challenge

How close can you get to Screaming Eagle? Today's 2016 TOR Oakville Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon hails from less than 1,000 feet from the Eagle's hallowed vineyards.

A sip of their 2016 Oakville HIllsides Cabernet Sauvignon proves TOR’s offerings stand head and shoulders above Napa protocol: Dense and brooding, this current release shows black fruit, exotic spices, clove, and cocoa, wrapped in fine tannins that still have their youthful grip. This is what happens when Oakville’s signature soil—the same tierra rioja behind legends like Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, and Rudd, all within a 1000 foot radius—collides with expert winemaking and a picture-perfect vintage.

Vinous put it simply when awarding this red a 96-point review: “The 2016 is positively stellar. Don't miss it.”

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate also slammed 96 points on this Oakville beauty “from the upper steep terraces of the vineyard, directly below Dalla Valle.”

TOR may take sensitive winemaking to new heights, but their production is decidedly minute. Only 175 cases of this opulent Cabernet were ever made, and we’ve secured 25 of them for Wine Access members.

Founder Tor Kenward has walked nearly every vineyard in Napa over his forty-year career in the valley, and his namesake winery combines his obsession with the region’s great vineyards with unparalleled attention to detail. In fact, he only sources wines from vineyards he knows personally, including the exquisite Tierra Rioja vineyard in Western Oakville behind this dazzling 96-point Oakville Hillside release.

Tucked in the foothills, Tierra Rioja is a four-acre jewel. This is one of the prime places in the 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. The Oakville Hillside release comes primarily from this sacred vineyard, with a dash of Cabernet Franc from lower in Oakville for spice and texture.

TOR has earned countless top scores for its transcendent Cabernets which scream of their iconic terroir. Beyond warning drinkers not to miss this release, Vinous piled on the praise for the 2016 Oakville Hillside, calling it “plush and voluptuous,” and praising its “terrific energy.” Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called it “lively,” with “loads of earth and mineral layers.” Both gave it a twenty-year drinking window stretching toward 2040. We couldn’t agree more.

This is an outstanding example of why the Oakville Hillside are home to many of Napa’s greatest Cabernets, and a rare chance to own a piece of delicious liquid history. Whether you open these bottles now, or a decade from now, this Cabernet is destined to impress.