2018 TOR Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard Napa Valley 750 ml

Tor Kenward and his winemaker Jeff Ames work only with the undisputed great sites of Napa Valley Cabernet: Their lineup boasts names like Beckstoffer To Kalon, Tierra Roja, and Vine Hill Ranch. Yet even among bottles off those Napa Valley Grands Crus, the 98-point TOR 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard is a standout. 

“If you line them up, taste them all blind when there’s no way to cheat, the one that’s most distinctive is Melanson,” Tor told us about his only Pritchard Hill Cabernet, which is grown high on the hill overlooking Colgin’s precious rows. 

As soon as we took a sip, we understood what Tor was talking about. The wine bursts with the dark-fruited mountain character of its source vineyard: It’s loaded with blackberry, preserved currant, mint, licorice, and toast flavors. Big and full-bodied yet complex and balanced, Tor’s Melanson Cabernet is more than just a flawless expression of one of Pritchard Hill’s great terroirs. It’s his best ever off the site.

Antonio Galloni of Vinous will back us up on that. Over the years, he’s described Tor’s Melanson Cabs as “super” and “positively stunning”—but those wines don’t match the 98-point 2018, which “captures the riveting beauty” of the spectacular vintage. That score puts it alongside Napa Valley untouchables like $425 Lokoya and $600 Bryant Family. 

This is a must-have picture of one of the singular sites of Pritchard Hill, brought to you by two Cabernet craftsmen who have built their reputations on expressing Napa Valley’s great terroirs. It’s a collector’s item that we encourage you to put alongside the great Napa Valley Cabernets in your cellar—to compare quality, absolutely, but also to experience what makes Melanson one of the standout spots in all of Napa Valley. For Pritchard Hill purity, you can’t do any better. 

“I’ve always been a huge fan of wines off Pritchard Hill, and I’ve tried to be a student of what makes them different,” Tor told us. Beyond recognizing what makes the area special in general—all-day sun, no fog, a big temperature swing that holds in the acidity and metabolized sugars—Tor looked closer. He concluded that Pritchard Hill’s north-facing sites make distinctive wines that demonstrate not just great ripeness, but structure, extract, and low pH. So he went on the lookout for a site he felt strongly about. 

Tor had known Greg Melanson in passing for years, but it took a friend from Southern California to facilitate a meeting. Tor went up to see the 42-acre site, which looks down on Lake Hennessey from 1,200 feet, and has just over ten acres of Cabernet Clones 7 and 337 planted on an isolated, boulder-strewn plot.

“You look at the vineyard and you just know it’s gonna make a great wine,” Tor said. Not only was he instantly enamored, but his timing could not have been better. “We walked the vineyard and I asked how much I could get, and Greg was a little unhappy with one of the partners at the time. So I got some of the older vines.” 

Tor has made his Melanson Cabernet every year since the all-time great 2013 vintage, yet none top this one. The result of a long, cool growing season that gave the grapes ample time to ripen perfectly, Tor and Jeff then aged the wine in twelve brand-new Taransaud barrels. 

Just twelve barrels: It’s a small quantity, and the collectors who get a bottle or two will count themselves lucky, in the short term or whenever they choose to open this singular Cabernet. A standout wine from two legendary winemakers and a coveted site, you do not want to miss this one.