You would think Tor Kenward had seen it all after making wine in the Napa Valley for close on half a century, but the 2022 growing season brought with it an altogether new challenge. After the fires and smoke taint of 2020 ruled out a vintage, the outstanding 2021 harvest was a boost, as was the so-called Judgment of Napa in October that year when Kenward’s Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 was rated ahead of nine other global icon wines. But then some freak weather in the 2022 summer came along….
"The secret was don't panic – just hang in there while you’re getting through the heat.” Tor Kenward
Three or four-day stretches of very hot weather in the Napa Valley are not uncommon, but a ten-day heatwave of around 40°C was not something Kenward had ever encountered. That, though, was precisely what his vines were confronted with in the late summer of 2022, leading to their shutdown. This was a major worry, given that the cost of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit in the famous To Kalon vineyard can exceed $50,000 per ton. For the 11 blocks of the varietal he farms in do not belong to him, but to Andy Beckstoffer, whose vineyard management company owns 1100 acres in Napa, including a good portion of To Kalon.
But Kenward, a Vietnam War veteran and onetime bodyguard for Elvis Presley, has never been one to lose his head in a crisis.
“If you look at Napa Valley as a whole, 2022 was probably one of the most challenging vintages,” he reflected. “It was close to perfect before and after the ten-day heat spell. That changed everything. The secret was don't panic – check to see how the vine behaves to ensure the shoot tips remain alive. Just hang in there while you’re getting through the heat.”
Three factors in Kenward’s favour were to prove crucial.
“It became an issue of canopy management,” he revealed. “Did you have misters? If yes, you were definitely ahead of the game. If you had shade cloth, you were also ahead. Water management – did you have access to it? We had all three. If you didn't have all three, or at least the water, then it was very difficult. The vines shut down, the stomatas shut up, and the vine says ‘I’m done’. So from a wine-making point of view, this ended up being a real winemakers' vintage. I’m extremely proud of it as I think you’ll discover these were excellent wines.”
Tasting the TOR Wines
Tor Kenward at a London tasting of TOR Wines, May 20, 2025
And, sure enough, when tasted over lunch at a central London restaurant, four of the TOR Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 labels – Oakville, Vaca Ridge, Vine Hill Ranch and Beckstoffer To Kalon – were typically compelling.
A couple of older vintages also showed beautifully – a Tierra Roja Cabernet 2019 and an Oakville Cabernet 2016. So too did the Cuvee Torchiana Chardonnay 2022, a classic Napa example of the varietal that went through 100% malolactic fermentation and saw 40% new oak. The reds get 70% new French oak, apart from the To Kalon which receives 80-90%, absorbing it effortlessly (‘why it’s so amazing’ in Kenward’s words).
Despite the prolonged heat spell, the acidities of Kenward’s 2022s did not drop off, exhibiting freshness, and coming in with pHs that were much lower than expected.
“The pHs were not high, which was the crazy thing, most between 3.4 to 3.5 with only a couple getting up to 3.8,” he mused. “The acidity was good, and I didn’t have to add any tartaric acid. Only once in 50 years have I done that. So the pHs and acidities were not wiped out. The grapes came in perfect, reaching both physiological and phenolic ripeness.”
Masterful winemaking
Any heat in what are beautifully balanced wines was noticeably lacking. The quality and approachability of the tannins was also clear, with Kenward paying homage to his co-winemaker, Jeff Ames.
Tor Kenward and Jeff Ames
“Jeff is the master of tannin management,” he purred. “We had discussions on pre-soaks, post-soaks and whether to do pumpovers and the rest. But he makes the important calls. He knows where he wants to be on tannin management. We take free run mainly and don't use a heavy press.”
It was evident that the 2022s will drink earlier than some older vintages.
“Every vineyard was different with one picked at 22.5 brix before the heatwave, and To Kalon and other grapes probably at around 25,” Kenward said. “If you take the entire vintage together, harvest was probably on the early side because of the heat, although not dramatically. There are going to be a lot of really really good wines. I think they are going to be a little showier than a lot of previous. Who knows the ageability but it’s an excellent vintage to enjoy much earlier than 2021 or 2019.”
To Kalon vineyard - "unassuming ... but then start digging and it makes sense."
“We didn’t take the gamble of making any wines in 2020 because of the fires and smoke. Fires do worry me generally. Up till ’17, we had had some fires but all of a sudden they are a serious problem that we have to pay close attention to now. We’re spending millions of dollars trying to get early detection, and how, if we do get smoke again, we can protect the grapes.”
Diversity of TOR's Cabernet Sauvignon
What also impressed was the diversity of the five Cabernet Sauvignons (the fifth being a Tierra Roja 2019). This is something that Kenward is particularly keen to stress.
Tierra Roja Vineyard
“People say that Napa Cabernets all taste the same but the diversity is dramatically different,” he declared. “I think the diversity is unbelievable, mind-boggling – the site, the clonal material, the farming practices, soil and elevation. Napa Valley has far more soil type diversity than a lot of the Old World sites.”
Kenward elaborated on how the vineyards vary. His Oakville label, he said, is sourced from two vineyards on the east side where soils are redder than on the west, giving more red fruits with darker ones on the latter.
“Vine Hill Ranch is in west Oakville, and one of its coolest sites, having first been planted in the 1880s. Vaca Ridge is an incredible site at 1200 feet, with soil that is so rocky. To me, it is a more elegant, prettier wine than the others. I have a block of Petit Verdot in there I covet as well as some lovely Cab Franc, which makes up around 25% of the Vaca Ridge blend. As for Tierra Roja, the soil is literally red from a volcanic landslide that took place millions of years ago. Cabernet loves that red soil, which has a lot of iron.”
Vine Hill Ranch is, for Kenward, on a par with To Kalon, both being valley floor at around 600 feet.
“Vine Hill Ranch is an amazing site,” he enthused. “You look at To Kalon and it’s a very unassuming vineyard but when you start digging into the earth, it starts making a lot of sense. You walk it and it’s kind of unremarkable – a gradual sloping vineyard that goes up into the foothills. Its soils are more of a gravelly loam without a huge amount of decomposed granite, although some other sites I work with do.”
The Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 victory in the Judgement of Napa in 2021 was, Kenward said, “a thrill as I was just hoping to get into fifth place.” Organised to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Judgement of Paris, its nine judges put Kenward’s label ahead of three iconic Bordeaux chateaux – Mouton Rothschild, Leoville Las Cases and Montrose – as well as the Super Tuscan Ornellaia, Penfolds Bin 707, Chile’s Almaviva and three other Napa big hitters – Ridge Monte Bello, Colgin and Scarecrow. “There weren’t that many French this time,” Kenward observed. “I think they basically said ‘what tasting?’ ”
Not surprisingly, Kenward says the Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is very hard to get hold of now. Indeed, only 3-4,000 cases of each of his labels are made every year, with about 80% going direct-to-consumer.
“If I wanted to produce more, then I’d have to hire people,” he declared. “I’d rather stay very focussed. I feel I know every barrel and I’d hate to get to a point where I don't feel that connected to the wines I’m making.”
The TOR wines are imported, sold and distributed in the UK by Pol Roger Portfolio. “Very little is exported,” Kenward revealed. “Mostly to the mailing list. Some are international collectors and somehow we find a way of getting the wine to them. I like Pol Roger as they're fun to deal with. I think it’s important to have your brand abroad. Japan and the UK are my two biggest overseas markets.”
Yields were down for the 2022 vintage but up for 2023, which is receiving some high praise.
“Some critics are comparing ’23, which is getting a lot of hype, to Bordeaux 1961,” Kenward said. “I think it has the potential to be on a par with ’16. The vintage nobody is talking about yet is ’24, which tastes awfully good in barrel. There is less of ’22, but a bit more of ’23 and ’24. And ’18 is maybe even better than 16.”
“You can’t put your hands in your pockets and think you have solved it.” Tor Kenward.
Kenward believes Napa has had some of its greatest vintages over the course of the last 20 years.
“Why? It’s a complex answer,” he mused. “A bunch of things – the way we farm now, really it’s a major revolution. You had California Sprawl [when vines were planted wide apart with shoots growing aggressively across rows into each other] and head-pruned vines up until the last 30 years; this whole VSP; even fruit zones – getting a little sunlight into them. That’s all modern farming. The equipment we have now is gentler and basically handles the grapes in as gentle a way as we possibly can. We have optical sorting and manual labour still but there have been huge changes in the vineyard.”
As for global warming, Kenward admits it is a huge concern.
“It’s something I’m trying to address the best I can,” he added. “It’s going to be more of a critical issue with my children and grand-children. I’m 77, and for the rest of my lifetime, I will find ways of working with it, but unless something reverses the situation, it’s going to change everything. Viticulture will change – shade cloths, misters, there’ll be ways of working with warmer years. 2023 was a cool year with no heat spikes, so you can still have those.”
Despite his age, and after five decades as a vintner, Tor Kenward refuses to rest on his laurels.
“You can’t put your hands in your pockets and think you have solved it,” he concluded. “There will always be ways to tweak and to improve both the growing and winemaking. I still think the greatest producers are the ones who keep an open mind and are willing to change if they need to change.” It is a key reason the septuagenarian vintner is still an industry icon.
The wines of Tor Kenward are available in the UK through Pol Roger Portfolio, which is a commercial partner of The Buyer. To discover more about them and what they do then click here.
