Collection: Philip Togni

Philip Togni’s rise to the top of Napa’s Cabernet hierarchy began, fittingly enough, in Bordeaux when he gained a spot in the University of Bordeaux’s inaugural Diplôme National d’Oenologie. He studied under the legendary French oenologist Émile Peynaud while working alongside Alexis Lichine of Château Lascombes. After a few years making wine in France and elsewhere, and in search of a new challenge, Togni moved to the Napa Valley. He cut his teeth at Napa’s leading wineries—Mayacamas, Inglenook and Cuvaison—before taking a post at Chappellet in St. Helena in 1968.

Togni’s time at Chappellet cemented his reputation among the Napa elite. In his second vintage, he made a Cabernet Sauvignon that has become a legend in Napa circles. As Antonio Galloni wrote in 2014: “Philip Togni was just a young man when he made the 1969. He could have retired immediately and still left behind an incredible legacy.”

By 1975, Togni and his wife Birgitta were able to purchase their own property. To the surprise of many, he chose to plant on the eastern slope of the Mayacamas Range in Spring Mountain, Napa Valley’s coolest and wettest region. Togni had judged, correctly, that this terroir perched high above the fog line—where the elevation and cooler climate contribute to longer growing seasons and slower ripening—would enable him to grow and make wines to rival the depth and complexity of his beloved Saint-Estèphe.

The estate’s 10 hectares of vines face east and enjoy the warm morning sun, with limited exposure to the harsh afternoon rays. Influenced by an early visit from Paul Pontallier of Château Margaux, the site’s makeup is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, with a little Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Large oak trees and Douglas Firs surround the property, providing shelter and a sense of isolation not often found in Napa. The slopes are steep, the plantings terraced, and the soils rocky with weathered sandstone and shale. Farming is organic and highly involved. “We spend 75% of our time in the vines,” Togni explains. The 33-year-old vines are dry-farmed, and the winery—like Philip’s house on the property—is solar-powered. The family’s operation is minuscule: three Tognis, two longtime employees and two part-timers.

After years spent working abroad in Australia, Bordeaux and Burgundy, Togni’s daughter Lisa returned to work with her father in 2000. Though he’s now well into his ninth decade, with over 70 vintages under his belt, you can’t keep Philip Togni out of the vines or cellar. The style of wine here hinges on elegance, refined structure and great ageability. Yields are kept low, and canopies are managed diligently to ensure full ripeness is reached at low alcohols. They pick early to preserve natural freshness, and the grapes co-ferment to reinforce and heighten site expression. The Tognis are fussy about their use of oak and have travelled to France to personally select their forests and coopers. They favour thicker staves, use barrels only twice and rarely deviate from their 40% new-oak sweet spot.

Today’s Napa is a world away from the sleepy farming valley that first greeted Philip Togni when he arrived in 1959. Yet, at this iconic estate on Spring Mountain, time has moved much more slowly. Same vines, same slopes, same varieties, same family and the same thrilling wines. Lisa Togni sums it up best: “It’s a beautiful piece of land. We have a connection and a continuity here. We’re just trying to show this one site in our wines; it’s really that simple.” When we first started to imagine what our US portfolio might look like, we put the feelers out to some very well-educated palates in the States and further afield. Philip Togni was the first name to come up, and it kept coming up. Enough said.