In this year’s Best of the Best, we continue to honour the brands and people who have continued to create covetable products, even in the midst of a global pandemic. Here, we have the Tor 2018 Black Magic win ‘best 100-pointer’ in the wine and spirits category
When a top critic gives a wine 100 points, most would agree that it’s a subjective opinion of perfection. But when four award the same wine 100 points (something that, to our knowledge, has never happened – until now), that approaches objective perfection.
The blend of uniquely co-fermented Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with a little Cabernet Franc in this Tor 2018 Black Magic (made only in great years) is dense and dark. Beautiful high-toned aromas of florals, forest, graphite, tobacco, exotic spices (star anise) and black and blue fruit give nuance to the wine’s power. And the dark-plum and blueberry flavours fill the mouth, layered with dark cacao, and persist endlessly, lending finesse to a magnificent structure.
This wine brand, founded 20 years ago by Tor Kenward, a much-respected former vice president at Beringer, has made a reputation on showstopping Bordeaux reds. According to Kenward, though, a wine like Black Magic is made only from barrels that capture his attention and that of winemaker Jeff Ames in the cellar. “Drinking this,” he says, “is akin to drinking a wine with another wine jammed into the same space so that it tastes richer than it possibly can be.” Indeed.
