Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I was also able to taste a retrospective of their flagship cuvlée, Black Magic, which is always a selection of the best in a vintage. Starting with the 2013 Black Magic, this incredible wine shows how good this vintage was for Northern California, and while it’s a massive wine, it stays incredibly balanced, seamless and weightless, with truly a little bit of magic. An insane bouquet of crème de cassis, scorched earth, chocolate, and graphite, as well as tons of pencil lead, gives way to a full-bodied, deep, opulent wine that’s just about as close to perfection as you can get. It has the fruit and texture to offer pleasure today, but hold off for another 3-4 years if you can. It’s going to deliver the goods for 2-3 decades.
Rating: 99+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
he virtually perfect, 150-case cuvée of 2013 Proprietary Red Black Magic is a selection of obviously what Tor Kenward thought were the best lots of wine in his entire cellar. The wine is heavily dominated by Beckstoffer To Kalon fruit, given the créme de cassis, licorice, cedar wood and lead pencil shavings that come across like a first-growth Pauillac. The wine has fabulous texture, a full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning purity, and almost unreal depth and length of close to a minute. This is as close to perfection as it gets, and I’m not sure it doesn’t merit a three-digit score, as it might with another 1-2 years of bottle age. Kudos to Tor for this profound effort, which should age effortlessly for 30 or more years.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.