Promontory

Promontory Napa Valley

California

Napa Valley

The 2019 Promontory has a deep garnet-purple color. It is quite closed at the moment, needing a little swirling to reveal notes of crushed rocks, garrigue, iron ore, and lavender, leading to a core of black cherries, redcurrant jelly, and fresh blackcurrants, with a hint of mossy tree bark. The medium to full-bodied palate is so tightly wound, delivering multi-layered black and red berries with mineral and earthy sparks, supported by fine-grained tannins, finishing long and fragrant. 

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Classic mountain Napa with fragrant underbrush, mint leaf, sage, bay leaf, slate and pummice stone, a ton of fresh acidities that bounce under the tannic structure. So good, drawn out, intense, with personality and freshness, a highlight of one of my favourite recent Napa vintages. 12ha of steeply-sloped vineyard, Harlan family, David Cilli winemaker, director Will Harlan.

Inside Bordeaux

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2021 Promontory swans out with gregarious scents of juicy blueberries, fresh blackcurrants, and kirsch leading to suggestions of candied violets, forest floor, black olives, and cardamom with a waft of wet slate. The medium to full-bodied palate shimmers with electric black and red berry layers, framed by very firm yet beautifully ripe tannins and impactful tension, finishing long and minerally.

The 2020 Promontory is deep garnet-purple in color. It soars out of the glass with notes of fresh black cherries, crushed blueberries, and kirsch, followed by hints of wet slate, Indian spices, candied violets, and fragrant earth. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly knit, with so many mineral and floral nuances intertwined with the red and black fruits, supported by very firm, very fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and perfumed. There is so much energy here, it practically vibrates in your mouth! A masterpiece.

This has the kick of black pepper, green pepper, mint leaf and eucaplyptus that takes you slap bang into Cabernet Sauvignon territory. As things limber up on the palate, everything is held in place by structured, slate-textured tannins that keep you pinned you in the heart of the wine. Plump blueberry and raspberry fruits, grilled almond, cloves and gunsmoke, with fresh sage notes that place you with a vineyard planted at altitude. The vines range in age from 7 to 50 years old, covering 32ha, with the wine aged in large-sized oak casks for three years, extremely unusual in Napa, and then typically held back for a further year in bottle before release. Promontory is all about precision, ageing-ability and carefully-hewn tannins, and this is great stuff from winemaker David Cilli and director Will Harlan. 2016 is the 4th vintage on the Place de Bordeaux (the US release for the 2016 vintage came in late 2021, with March 2022 marking the release for the rest of the world).

An early, dry year where Napa Valley received 75% of normal rainfall, giving Promontory an advantage with its mountain location (and helped even further by a four week harvest that saw 54 different passes through the vines). Still young even at six years old, rippling with fresh floral aromatics that balance the concentrated powerful olive tapenade, chocolate and liquorice-soaked berry fruits. Intense from the start, with the juicy elegance of slate, damson and cassis-dominant Cabernet Sauvignon that stretches out in the glass. The Harlan family know exactly how to deliver wines with power and punch. First released on the Place de Bordeaux in March 2021, making this my second tasting this year. First vintage 2009, distributed partly through the Place de Bordeaux since the 2012 vintage.

Deep garnet in color, the 2011 Promontory tumbles out with forthcoming notes of baked plums and blackcurrant preserves leading to hints of sandalwood, fertile loam, rusty nails, and wild fungi with a hint of dried bay leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate vibrates with spritely black fruit and minerally layers supported by firm, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing long with a real skip in its step.

2021	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2020	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2019	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2016	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2015	No priceNot available	Extraordinary

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Promontory
Vintages	2019
Country	US, California, Napa Valley
Bottle	75 cl

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