Philip Togni’s first interaction with sweet wine was in 1946. Hitchhiking back to London from Venice, he carried a two-litre flagon of sweet fortified white wine for the journey. Fast forward to the 1980s, and Togni is planting his home site in the Spring Mountain District when he runs out of Cabernet vines. Rather than order more, Togni decided to plant the last 39 vines to a little-known Muscat variety called Black Hamburg. With it, he’ll make a sweet red wine to rival the famed Vin de Constance of the South African Cape.
At less than a half-acre, Togni’s vines were Napa’s only planting of the variety. Its susceptibility to Pearce’s disease, alas, sealed the small plot’s fate, and after many attempts to salvage it, the decision to replant to Cabernet Sauvignon was made. So, this is one of the last releases of a piece of Napa Valley history.
The grapes are harvested very late in the season when the fruit is very ripe (19.4 Baumé in 2013), often shrivelled on the vine. The fruit macerates for about seven days to give colour and is then pressed. The wine is aged in very old oak barrels for just under a year before bottling. The final residual sugar clocks in at 329 g/L and the alcohol at 14%.