Tor’s Note: Real magic cannot be explained or reasoned. It is astonishing and challenges our imagination. It is in this wine. It is black as a moonless Napa Valley night, and limitless on the palate, a magic trick only the great wines master. It is born from a rigid barrel selection, is very limited, and is not made every year – only when it chooses to appear. As winemakers, we can coax it to emerge from the barrel, but it appears only when it is ready. For Black Magic you need not, should not, know more.

Winemaker’s Tasting Notes: 2021 Black Magic is an extremely focused, tension-filled wine. In 2021, it is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with a small portion of Cabernet Franc. The profile is dark, deep, and opulent with notes of black currant, black cherries, black licorice, anise, and Mexican chocolate. This will be one of our longest-lived Black Magics because of its immense structure and the impenetrable nature of its mid-palate. The long and seamless finish trails off to a peacock tail of graphite and notes of mint. Try not to fall under this wine’s spell…

Vintage Report: The 2021 growing season began with January, February, and March rains totaling close to eight inches. The ground water led to more canopy than the previous warm 2020, but all of our sites are well drained and did not need significant canopy management. The vines were healthy but crop set was small, 20%-25% off normal, less than the previous four years. The summer was dry, no significant rains until October. By harvest, the clusters were uniformly small, provided high skin to juice ratio, giving us wines with structure wrapped around a core of dense fruit. In the barrel, these wines evolved slowly. After 20 months in barrel, the wines represent what we consider an outstanding Napa Valley vintage.

Watch the meaning behind TOR Magic below…

Cooper Kenward – Editor
Robby Piantanida – Director of Photography and Colorist