TOR Wines

A trip to Napa in 1975 took Tor Kenward to Beringer, where he spent 26 years shaping its Private Reserve program, walking vineyards with André Tchelistcheff and hosting culinary figures including Julia Child. After Fosters of Australia bought Beringer in 2000, Kenward left the company to set up his own label. In 2001 Tor and his wife Susan founded TOR Wines to make small-production, single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from Napa Valley sites. Among the mentors Kenward names from his first three decades in the valley are Robert Mondavi, André Tchelistcheff, Warren Winiarski, Ed Sbragia and Maynard Amerine. TOR made its first Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in 2005. In 2014 an earthquake with its epicenter just south of the city of Napa destroyed about a fifth of TOR's 2013 vintage. In 2022 Kenward published a memoir, Reflections of a Vintner: sTORies and Seasonal Wisdom from a Lifetime in Napa Valley, organised in chapters by the months of the year. TOR is family-owned.

• 1975: Tor Kenward's trip to Napa led to 26 years at Beringer.
• 2001: Tor and Susan Kenward founded TOR Wines.
• 2005: first TOR vintage from Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.
• 2014: an earthquake centered just south of Napa destroyed about a fifth of TOR's 2013 vintage.
• 2022: Tor Kenward's memoir, Reflections of a Vintner, was published.

Tor Kenward is vintner and proprietor and Susan Kenward is proprietor. Tor Kenward walks every vineyard, tastes every barrel and makes every final blend. Susan Kenward co-founded the Hamptons specialty shop Loaves and Fishes and wrote five cookbooks that earned two James Beard Awards. She came to Napa Valley in 1985 on an assignment as a food and lifestyle writer, and by 1991 she was developing Flora Napa Valley and Olivina, a fragrance and body care line inspired by wine country. Winemaker Jeff Ames arrived in Napa Valley from Alabama in 1999; he was mentored by Thomas Brown and worked harvests at Schrader, Maybach, Outpost and TOR. Ames and Tor Kenward have made TOR's wines together for over two decades.

• Tor Kenward: vintner and proprietor.
• Susan Kenward: proprietor; co-founder of Loaves and Fishes; author of five cookbooks that earned two James Beard Awards.
• Jeff Ames: winemaker; arrived in Napa Valley in 1999 and was mentored by Thomas Brown.

TOR does not own vineyards for its wines; Tor Kenward and Jeff Ames specify their preferences for yields, canopy management and picking dates with the growers. Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, on the western boundary of the Oakville appellation, was first planted by Hamilton Crabb in 1868 and acquired by Andy Beckstoffer in 1993, and in 2007 the property was placed under a land conservation easement. TOR has worked with Beckstoffer there since 2005 and has accumulated 11 blocks, including two blocks of Cabernet Franc; its rows are managed to one cluster per shoot, on Bale loam and Bale clay loam soils over ancient riverbed gravels. Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard in St. Helena was first planted in 1858 by George B. Crane and replanted in 1998 under Andy Beckstoffer; TOR farms Block A, rows 1 to 16, planted to Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon, alongside a parcel of Cabernet Franc. Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville was first planted in 1884 and has been owned by the Phillips family since 1959; TOR began sourcing there in 2013, initially Petit Verdot, and farms an acre of old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon in Block 7 and a section of Block 3D. Vaca Ridge Vineyard in Oakville is a hillside site of volcanic soils first planted in 1974 by the Harter family. In Carneros, Hyde Vineyard was founded in 1979 by Larry Hyde; TOR waited fourteen years for its first rows there, planted to his Small Cluster Clone of Wente Chardonnay, and has since added parcels of Calera and old shot-cluster Wente. Beresini Vineyard, 4.49 acres in the southernmost corner of Carneros, was planted in 1988 with Hyde Selection Wente cuttings that Larry Hyde gave to Steve Beresini, and TOR takes the entire crop each year. The Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon combines fruit from the Double H Ranch (Harter) Vineyard and the Renteria 360 Vineyard on Skellenger Lane, and TOR has also bottled a 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from Melanson Vineyard on Pritchard Hill.

• Beckstoffer To Kalon (Oakville): 11 blocks, including two of Cabernet Franc; worked with since 2005.
• Beckstoffer Dr. Crane (St. Helena): Block A, Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon, plus a Cabernet Franc parcel.
• Vine Hill Ranch (Oakville): Block 7 old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon and a section of Block 3D; sourced since 2013.
• Vaca Ridge (Oakville): hillside volcanic site first planted in 1974 by the Harter family.
• Hyde (Carneros): Wente and Calera Chardonnay selections; Beresini (Carneros): 4.49 acres planted in 1988, entire crop to TOR.

The range is organised in four groups. The Cabernet Sauvignons are Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard BFD, Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Vaca Ridge Vineyard and Oakville. The Chardonnays are Hyde Vineyard Cuvée Susan, Hyde Vineyard HS Hyde Select and Beresini Vineyard Cuvée Torchiana. The Magics are Black Magic and Pure Magic, and the Passion Projects are the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard BFD Cabernet Sauvignon, a Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Franc and Chasing Windmills, a Grenache Syrah from Fulldraw Vineyard. Pure Magic is based on co-fermenting Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot with Cabernet Sauvignon from a single vineyard, a decision made only when the grapes are picked. The Magics come from a rigid barrel selection, are very limited and are not made every year. BFD refers to the block letters TOR sources within To Kalon, and the grapes for the 2021 BFD were all co-fermented. Cuvée Susan is a selection of the best Hyde Vineyard barrels, matured sixteen months in small French barrels and named for Susan Kenward. TOR formerly produced a second label, ROCK, from Rhône varieties, primarily Syrah and Grenache.

• Cabernet Sauvignon: Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, To Kalon BFD, Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, Vine Hill Ranch, Vaca Ridge and Oakville.
• Chardonnay: Hyde Vineyard Cuvée Susan, Hyde Vineyard HS Hyde Select and Beresini Vineyard Cuvée Torchiana.
• Magics: Black Magic and Pure Magic, barrel selections not made every year.
• Passion Projects: To Kalon BFD Cabernet Sauvignon, Dr. Crane Cabernet Franc and Chasing Windmills Grenache Syrah from Fulldraw Vineyard.

Fermentations use natural indigenous yeast, and the wines are aged in small French cooperage, with coopers chosen for each vineyard, and bottled unfiltered and unfined. Co-fermentation is commonly practiced. The 2024 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon spent 25 days fermenting on the skins, was basket pressed and matured for 20 months in French oak barrels from Darnajou and Taransaud, 80% new. The 2023 Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay Cuvée Susan was whole-cluster pressed with no juice settling and went to barrel with heavy lees; wild yeast and wild malolactic fermentation followed, and the wine settled naturally in tank before bottling unfined and unfiltered.

• Indigenous-yeast fermentations; small French cooperage chosen by vineyard; unfiltered and unfined.
• 2024 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon: 25 days on skins, basket pressed, 20 months in French oak (80% new).
• 2023 Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay Cuvée Susan: whole-cluster pressed, to barrel with heavy lees, wild yeast and wild malolactic fermentation.

Tor Kenward puts the shared rule with Jeff Ames as 'the vineyard is what we showcase, not a heavy winemaker’s hand.' TOR describes Black Magic as 'dense, dark, and unapologetically bold' and Pure Magic as 'graceful, lifted, and expressive.' Ames's note on the 2024 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon opens with 'a captivating array of vibrant red and dark fruits, complemented by nuanced notes of unsmoked pipe tobacco and subtle tar.'

Writing in Decanter in 2022, Stephen Brook, who has followed the wines from 2002, called them 'clearly of a high standard,' finding that the reds tend to be better than the whites and that the stars of the range are often the wines from the Beckstoffer To Kalon and Tierra Roja vineyards. The Napa Wine Project notes the wines typically rated in the mid to upper 90s, with 100-point scores common for the Black Magic and Pure Magic bottlings.

• Decanter (Stephen Brook, 2022): 'clearly of a high standard,' with the To Kalon and Tierra Roja wines often the stars of the range.
• The Napa Wine Project: typically rated in the mid to upper 90s, with 100-point scores common for Black Magic and Pure Magic.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://torwines.com/, https://torwines.com/our-story/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/beckstoffer-to-kalon-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/beckstoffer-dr-crane-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/vine-hill-ranch-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/hyde-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/beresini-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/vineyard/vaca-ridge-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/wine/beckstoffer-to-kalon-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/wine/pure-magic/, https://torwines.com/wine/cuvee-susan-hyde-vineyard/, https://torwines.com/wine/oakville/, and TOR's winery listing on the Napa Valley Vintners site: https://napavalley.wine/winemakers/wineries/TOR_Kenward_Family_Wines. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project (https://www.napawineproject.com/tor-napa-valley/, last updated 1 April 2025) and Decanter (Stephen Brook, 19 August 2022). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.