Winemaker Notes
Once again the name of the wine describes the wine. This is all dark fruit and density. This years Black Magic shows tremendous depth and tannins that are almost totally buried in pure macerated black fruits, black berries, Turkish coffee, unsmoked tobacco, tar and black licorice. This was again blended from numerous barrel trials, tastings and blendings with no wine being off limits with the singular goal of making the best wine in Napa. Unfortunately this year resulted in fewer cases but at least the equal of the 2018 version. This is a wine to have with just your best of friends or to put away for your children.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Blackberries with lavender, rosemary and sandalwood. Very perfumed. Full-bodied and always tight, transparent and so long. Linear and racy. So pretty and nimble. Well formed. Cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and a splash of petit verdot. All co-fermented. Best After 2025.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on co-ferments of Cabernet Sauvignon (76%), Petit Verdot (15%), and Cabernet Franc (9%), mostly from the To Kalon and Vine Hill Ranch vineyards, the 2019 Black Magic is a stunning wine that flirts with perfection, and I'd put it up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. It offers a kaleidoscopic array of red, blue, and black fruits, notes of sandalwood, graphite, iron, and tobacco leaf, full-bodied richness, silky tannins, and a monster of a finish. The balance here is spot on, it has the supple, round, classic 2019 mouthfeel, and while it's already a sensational drink, it's going to evolve for 25+ years. It's another incredible wine from this team.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A best-blend, best-barrel selection, Tor's 2019 Black Magic offers up waves of cassis, black cherries, dark chocolate and dark loam. It's full-bodied and rich, expansive, plush and velvety. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot and 9% Cabernet Franc, there are 300 cases of this incredibly seductive effort. The only question well-heeled buyers will have to consider is whether it is really that much better than some of the single-vineyard efforts.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.