In James' recent Zoom tasting with his old friend Tor Kenward and Jeff Ames, proprietor and winemaker at Tor Kenward Family Wines, the quality of the 2018 vintage in Napa Valley was on full show. Particularly at a winery such as Tor, which makes only a few barrels of each wine and pays such close attention to the entire winemaking process from vine to bottle, the 2018s were a beautiful example of how small-production, single-vineyard wines can really shine in a top-quality year. They spend the first part of the interview discussing the harrowing moments of last year’s fires - James finds out his friend was okay and that he lives near James’s house in St. Helena - then they discuss 2018 with its ups and downs but great wines. They also discuss the quality of 2019, which is another winner like 2018.
Tor Kenward Family Wines was founded in 2001 by Tor Kenward and his wife Susan who put their efforts into single-vineyard wines from the best lots of the best vineyards. During the call, James, Tor and Jeff tasted a selection of wines that showed great diversity. "2018 is about as good as it gets," Tor said, while James particularly enjoyed the Tor Napa Valley Pure Magic Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard 2018, a new super selection from Vine Hill Ranch, one of James' favorite vineyards in the Oakville AVA with a long history of making great wines. They also talked about the 2019 vintage, the horrendous 2020 fires and more.
Watch the video to hear the highlights of the conversation and see what they thought of the wines.
Read James' full Napa report here, and check out our top 10 chardonnays of the Carneros AVA here.
Below are the wines that were tasted during the call. Click the links to see the tasting notes and scores (subscribers only).
Tor Napa Valley Black Magic 2018
Tor Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros 2019
Tor Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville 2018
Tor Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2018
Tor Chardonnay Sonoma County Sonoma Coast Durell Vineyard 2018
Tor Chardonnay Napa Valley Torchiana Beresini Vineyard Hyde Clone 2018
Tor Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Melanson Vineyard 2018
Tor Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Tierra Roja Vineyard 2018
Tor Napa Valley Pure Magic Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard 2018
Tor Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2018
Tor Napa Valley Pure Magic Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyards BFD 2018
