Tanbark Hill is Philip Togni’s second wine, the first being an labeled as “Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon.” Togni’s website reads that wine bottled under the Tanbark Hill label is “from young vines which is sold primarily to the Trade.” This runs contrary to anecdotal evidence that I heard in 2006: that Tanbark Hill is just a declassified wine. All selected wine on the estate is put into barrel, and as they mature certain barrels are marked as Tanbark Hill, bottled as such, and sold for half the retail price. That’s a bargain. This bottle was $50, half of the $100 asking price of the Togni Estate. In this particular case for the 2004 vintage only one barrel was held back and bottled as Tanbark Hill.

Of course, I could call the winery up and ask for comment. But, this is a blog, so no need for confirming rumors or sources. Just hammer it in and let ‘er rp.

Being a relatively young wine, I decanted this and tasted it several times over the course of the night. Dinner pairing was steak pinwheels made with spinach and bacon.

Pop and Pour

Color was a dark brick red. Togni bottles his wines unfiltered, and it shows. There’s a nice color complexity that you don’t see from filtered wines. The wine smelled like olive, menthol and even a little floral. Palette has cherry, oak, a thick and coating wine. Long solid finish.

One hour decant

The wine was much bigger up front, but on the nose and palette. There was a lot more finesse in the wine as it delivered up front, in the middle, and on the finish. Much improved.

Overall, very enjoyable wine. Recommended if you can find it.