TOR Napa Valley was founded in 2001 by Tor Kenward and his wife Susan. Tor first came to Napa Valley in 1975 as a wine buyer for several retail shops including one in Santa Barbara. Hooked by the valley and the wine business, his first job in Napa Valley was as a tour guide at Beringer. Ultimately, he spent 27 years at Beringer Winery including as an executive at the winery before “retiring” and starting TOR Napa Valley. While at Beringer he created a cooking series – working with a number of notable chefs. Over the years he befriended some of the iconic winemakers in the valley including André Tchelistcheff, Robert Mondavi and Myron & Alice Nightingale and others integral to the world of food and wine including Julia Child.
During his time at Beringer he had access to some of Beringer’s best vineyards and he would make a barrel of wine each year for friends and family, but was never produced commercially. Upon leaving Beringer, he was not yet ready to ‘retire’. As we have learned over the years, there is always a number of former winery employees and executives who never really retire from the wine business.
Susan (Costner) Kenward has built an impressive and varied career after graduating from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. She co-founded Loaves & Fishes in tiny Sagaponack near the Hamptons on Long Island in the mid 1970s with Devon Fredericks (both women were in their 20s at the time). She and Fredericks sold Loaves and Fishes to Anna Pump in 1980 and also that same year co-authored and self-published the Loaves & Fishes cookbook. A number of Loaves & Fishes cookbooks have been written since their original book. Remarkably this tiny provisions place is still in business today and is still family owned.
It offers a variety of premium food items ranging from gourmet deli offerings to ice cream, specialty drinks, spices, soups and canned items. Long known for prices to match their quality, for instance, their lobster salad was selling for $18/pound in 1978. In the culinary world, their foods, history and cookbooks have reached an iconic status, helped in part by numerous articles over the years, especially from New York City based publications.
Susan came to Napa Valley to interview a Spring Mountain vintner, met Tor and later founded a fragrance company based in Napa Valley. She has also written a number of cookbooks and has earned two coveted James Beard awards.
We originally tasted some of Tor’s earliest vintages in 2007 at a tasting in Pasadena and then followed up with Tor where we met at his house just north of St. Helena.
The focus for TOR Wines is on single vineyard premium Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from some of Napa Valley’s best sites for these particular varieties, including several prominent hillside vineyards. Despite not owning vineyards for the TOR wines Tor is extremely involved in the actual farming decisions including canopy management, fruit loads, pruning, harvest decisions and other integral vineyard management decisions.
While the scope of their reach in the vineyards is meticulous, in the winery, they tend to keep intervention to a minimal. The wines are generally fermented using indigenous yeasts (non-cultured) and bottled without being fined or filtered. Co-fermentation is commonly practiced.
The first vintage of TOR was in 2001. Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown crafted the first two vintages. Early in his career, Ames worked with Brown and then took over as head winemaker for TOR in 2003, crafting every vintage since.
Select Wines/Winemaking
Chardonnay
The 2022 TOR Chardonnay, Hyde Vineyard, Cuvée is 100% varietal; this wine is deep gold. On the bouquet there are aromas of honeysuckle, baked pineapple, apricot, melon, papaya and a light citrus influence. And barrel influences including butterscotch and vanilla. It is well-layered on both the bouquet and the palate, showcasing the full ripeness of the variety. On the palate there are flavors of papaya, baked pineapple, apricot, yellow peach, nectarine and a note of lingering vanilla. Its fleshy and oily texture is complemented with both a richness of flavor and a brightness of acidity. Long finish. This is a rich expression of the variety but is in no way oaky or buttery. The winemaking for this wine was fairly straight forward. The grapes were whole cluster pressed straight to barrel where they went through both primary and full malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged in 55% new French oak barrels with additional aging in hermitage cigar shaped barrels and a small portion in stainless steel drums and Austrian Stockinger barrels. Total aging was 14 months prior to bottling.
The Tor 2016 Napa Valley Torchiana Chardonnay, Beresini Vineyard Carneros is faded sunflower petal yellow in the glass. Aromatically bright and beautiful with a diversity of aromas, this wine shows tropical notes including honeysuckle, citrus blossom, lemon zest, notes of honey, dried straw and baking spices. Its texture is rounded, but not creamy or buttery; the palate features layers of flavor. Well concentrated with a clean long-lasting finish, the palate includes flavors of lemon curd and a secondary subtle spice that kicks in far along on the finish. Refreshingly, one can taste the varietal character in this wine.
Beresini Vineyard on the Napa side of Carneros is three hand-farmed acres managed by its namesake, Steve Beresini who has been growing grapes on his property since 1988 and growing grapes in Napa Valley since 1970. The Chardonnay cuttings originally came from Hyde Vineyards, also in Carneros. For those who have not yet tried an enjoyable Chardonnay, it is worth the extra effort to seek out this wine. While focused on the inherent varietal characteristics, this wine is not made in the style of being oaky, buttery or heavy textured.
Over the years TOR has sourced Chardonnay from other acclaimed Carneros vineyard sites such as Durell, Hyde and Hudson. The 2004 TOR Kenward Family Wines Wente Clone Chardonnay was sourced from the Durell Vineyard; this site is located in a slightly warmer area than typical for the Carneros region due to its more northerly location. The Wente clone is known for its small berries and concentrated flavors. This wine typically is fermented using only natural yeasts and sometimes can have a very long and slow fermentation period lasting up to 7 months. This particular Chardonnay shows a beautiful golden hue in the glass; it is surprisingly floral on the nose with a intense aromas of honeysuckle along with hints of peanut brittle on the palate. This was a popular wine at restaurants and was available by the bottle at the French Laundry in Yountville.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2019 TOR Tierra Roja Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the lower foothills of the Vaca mountain range on the east side of Oakville. The soils here are red and iron rich. This wine is deep ruby and opaque in the glass; The bouquet is primarily focused on its fruit characteristics with aromas of dark cherry, black plum, boysenberry and a light red chili pepper spice note which dissipates as the wine evolves in the glass. A sweet aromatic thread runs through the palate most closely resembling ripe raspberries. A light cedar spice shows more in the background. This wine reveals flavors of cherry, plum and dark raspberry with a finish of both fruit and brown chocolate. This flavorful bottling features fully ripe and remarkably gentle textured tannins. The finish drops off rather quickly. Medium acidity.
The 2019 TOR Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville (a 15 barrel selection) is deep ruby in color; the bouquet is dark fruited including of blackberry and plum but there are also highly aromatic and prominent scents of mocha, espresso, warm chocolate and coffee grinds. A woodsy spice, dried sage and a crushed peppercorn nuance makes it also somewhat savory. But be patient with this wine; it needs time for the fruit aromatics to become more expressive, and they will. Richly layered on the palate, it reveals flavors of blackberry, dark plum and boysenberry. Its texture shows still somewhat tightly woven tannins which linger with a persistent, grippy, drying and savory character. We could see serving this while BBQing tri-tip on a warm but not humid summer evening.
The 2021 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Vaca Ridge Vineyard is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Cabernet Franc. This wine deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet offers aromas of Santa Rosa plum, blackberry, boysenberry preserves, cocoa powder, cinnamon stick, dark chocolate and old cedar box, an aromatic which reminds us of our grandmother’s old jewelry box she gifted us prior to her passing. As the wine evolves it reveals a note of sweet tobacco spice. On the palate there are flavors of blackberry, Pakistani mulberry, dark cherry and dark chocolate. Lingers with a note of toasted cedar and lightly grainy but ripe and resolved tannins. Their presence persists with a sandy, dusty and chalky character and a note of cocoa powder lasting beyond the fruit on the finish. This is a challenging site to work with; when ripe, the grapes always seem to show higher a pH.
The 2021 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Melanson Vineyard is deep ruby and opaque; the fruit is immediately expressive, ripe and bright offering scents of blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry and dark plum with dried herbs including smoked sage and a light layer of toasted cedar complementing all the fruit. The palate is ripe with flavors mirroring the bouquet, including blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry and dark plum. Finishes dusty and drying with lightly grainy but already rounded tannins that persist in tandem with the fruit on the extended finish. A crowd favorite from Pritchard Hill, this wine fully showcases the ripeness of the site. This wine was aged in in 70% new French oak barrels, all from the cooperage, Taransoud.
The 2021 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch is deep ruby and opaque with an amaranthine rim; minerally, the bouquet offers aromas of petrichor, chalk, accompanied by dark fruits including blackberry, plum, boysenberry and cherry. And a savory component, a union of both dried herbs and old cedar. This wine offers power, freshness, ripeness and layers of flavor; Vine Hill Ranch is one of what we have termed, Napa Valley’s ‘first greats‘, a coveted collection of vineyards that stand out because of certain attributes including an established quality of production, history and location. Dark fruited, the palate offers blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry and plum. The tannins are dense and persist for sometime with their firm and dusty grip – however in the same grain, (pardon the pun), they are already well tumbled and surprisingly devoid of edges, considering this vintage in particular. Grapes for this wine were harvested from blocks 4 and 7. TOR began sourcing grapes from Vine Hill Ranch in 2013, initially Petit Verdot. TOR is often the last producer to pick from this entire vineyard – always harvesting on the later side. This wine was aged for 21 months in new French oak barrels.
The 2021 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, BFD. BFD is an acronym referring to the block letters they source grapes from within this vineyard. All grapes are co-fermented. This wine is deep ruby, dark and opaque. This wine is not lacking for color. The bouquet is a layered union of both dark fruits and complementing baking spices. These include black cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry, a union of chocolate brownie and old cedar and sweet tobacco. The dark fruited palate reveals flavors of bramble, boysenberry, dark cherry and plum. And notes of nutmeg and cinnamon stick. The focus here is clearly on the richness of the fruit and its textural profile. The firmly gripping, chewy and still edgy tannins need some time in the bottle to be tamed. Their presence continues to be felt well beyond the fruit on this youngster. For reference, we tasted three years post vintage. It is an energetic teenager. Darnajou barrels are primarily used for aging this wine (about 65% new barrels); it was in barrel for 20 months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered. We would love to try this wine in 10 and then again in 20 years.
The 2005 TOR To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was their first vintage from this iconic vineyard. The historical To Kalon Vineyard produces some of the highest quality grapes in Oakville with Constellation owning the majority of the vineyard and the rest divided between grower Andy Beckstoffer, UC Davis maintains an educational and experimental nearly 20-acre block and two families’ the Detert’s and MacDonald’s farm smaller blocks.
The 2005 TOR To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon shows plenty of fruit on the bouquet yet is complemented nicely with secondary aromas including notes of cedar and a sweetness of mocha. It reveals a generous mouth feel while at the same time is refined and elegant with dark fruit flavors inherent to the variety. These include black cherry, blackberry and black licorice; these concentrated fruit flavors are balanced by a lively acidity and a long-lasting tannin structure.
In 2014 a 6.0 earthquake with an epicenter just south of the city of Napa shook the region and destroyed numerous barrels of wine including about a fifth of TOR’s 2013 vintage. After accessing the damage and conducting cleanup in the cellar, they identified five of the best remaining barrels from that particular vintage. These barrels formed the basis of a new wine, the best of the best they call Black Magic and Pure Magic. These wines are not produced every year. This wine was also the inspiration for deciding to experiment with co-fermentation. Really liking the results from co-fermenting Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, they continue to do so and have branched out to other varietal co-fermentations.
TOR used to produce a second label called ROCK which featured wines made entirely from varieties grown in the Rhône Valley in France. The name of this label was in tribute to the huge amounts of rocks found in certain vineyards in the Rhône Valley as well as found in the vineyards that TOR sources grapes from. These wines were primarily Syrah and Grenache.
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Tor comes from a family of artists; his father Allan was an accomplished writer whose most famous work was a play set in the Philippines during World War II called Cry Havoc. It was adapted for a play on Broadway and later became a film starring Margaret Sullivan and Ann Sothern. His mother was an actress on Broadway and later a painter. His parents’ artistic proclivities rubbed off on Tor; while living in Santa Barbara he began a jazz club and promoted concerts for musicians such as Tom Waits and Chuck Berry. Tor also has the gift for creating engaging prose and has always been a friend of wine writers and wine journalists. For many years, TOR wines supported fellowships for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers – still held annually at Meadowood Napa Valley in St. Helena.
And in 2022 Tor wrote a book called Reflections of a Vintner: sTORies and Seasonal Wisdom from a Lifetime in Napa Valley. This book is divided into chapters based on the months of the year and details the type of work needed to be done both in the vineyard and cellar for each month. However, the book is primarily a collection of stories, and insights about people and places, resulting from decades of living in Napa Valley. It is a fascinating read about the evolution of both Napa Valley’s wine industry and culinary scene. Tor already has an impressive collection of wine books in his own library; he can proudly add another one to their company.
For a number of years TOR did not have a space where they could host tastings, rather they focused on select distribution and appearances at a number of premium wine events including the Taste of Howell Mountain, held each year, usually in mid-June. We’ve attended this event several times; tasting some of TOR’s wines is always one of the highlights.
Today one can taste their wines at several locations within Napa Valley including sometimes at RH Wine Vault at Ma(i)sonry in Yountville, a chic tasting space located in a historical stone building and at Wheeler Farms by appointment, located on Zinfandel Lane just south of St. Helena. And ACME Wine Shop in St. Helena often carries select vintages of their wines.
Visits to Wheeler Farms are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors. A number of premium brands use this winery for both production and hospitality purposes. TOR offers a 75-minute tasting featuring 5 different wines, typically one of their Chardonnays and four of their Cabernet Sauvignons. A small charcuterie board is included with each tasting. A visit may include a walk over to the production building to see where the TOR wines are made and perhaps a barrel sample or two.
TOR offers additional experiences ranging from exclusive vineyard visits, to hosted lunches to single vineyard barrel tastings.
The wines are typically rated in the mid to upper 90s with 100 point scores common for their Black and Pure Magic bottlings. All wines are sold as three-packs. To join the mailing list, to schedule an appointment or for more information, visit: www.torwines.com
I would like to be placed on your mailing list if possible. I purchased two bottles of your wine on my trip to Napa recently and was so impressed.
Barrie – you have good taste 🙂