2017 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Black Magic
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Black Magic is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Cabernet Franc mostly from the Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard in Oakville. It's deeper colored than the To Kolan and has a denser, more brooding bouquet of blackcurrants, lead pencil, graphite, tobacco, and crushed rocks. Reminding me of a great vintage of Pontet-Canet, it's full-bodied, deep, packed with tannins, and beautifully balanced. It's a remarkable wine in the vintage that will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 30 years or more.
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James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Black Magic is another super-impressive wine in this range. There is notable depth and intensity to the 2017, with loads of black fruit, equally imposing tannins and plenty of Cabernet Franc nuance. Gravel, smoke, grilled herbs, licorice and earthy notes give this huge, powerful wine tons of aromatic presence. The tannins need to soften but this is another very fine wine in the making. In 2017, the Black Magic is essentially a blend of four barrels of the Proprietary Red blend, plus plus one barrel of the To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc co-fermented that is also in that wine.
TOR’s barrel selection flagship, the “Magic” blend this year is 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot and 48% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Proprietary Red Black Magic come rolling out of the glass with seductive blackberry pie, creme de cassis and baked plums notes plus suggestions of baking spices, marmite toast, mocha and licorice with just a hint of bouquet garni. Medium to full-bodied, the bright, vibrant palate has a firm frame of ripe grainy tannins and bold freshness, supporting the taut, tightly wound black fruits, finishing on a lingering mineral note. 125 cases were made.
This is classically structured with a near-perfect center palate of uber-fine tannins that run and run and run through the wine. Full body. Blackberries, black olives and licorice. Extremely long and caressing. Harmony with power. Give it at least four or five years. Better after 2021. Only 100 cases produced.