The actual product may vary from the images shown on the website.
Red dry
Promontory Napa Valley Rouge 2012 - an iconic Harlan family project from the wild, hilly area west of Oakville. The 2012 vintage in Napa Valley produced a powerful but very graceful wine: blackcurrants, blackberries, plum creaminess, wet stone and forest moss, graphite, cocoa, tobacco nuances. In the mouth - full body, precise acidity, very fine, long-maturing tannins and a long, mineral aftertaste. A great harmony between power and elegance. Drink now after a long decant or age for 15-20+ years.
Promontory - a separate Harlan family farm with an expressive, rocky terrain; wines are famous for the synthesis of "wet stone", cool mineral notes and disciplined power.
The vines grow in a wild, rocky valley west of Oakville; The soils of the plots are diverse (volcanic, sedimentary, metamorphic). The harvest is hand-picked in many "passes" (up to several dozen separate micro-batches) so that each fraction is ideally ripe.
The grapes are placed by gravity flow into different types of containers: oak vats, concrete tanks, stainless steel tanks. Such a multi-vessel system allows for very precise control of the extraction for each batch.
Fermentation of some micro-batches takes place in oak barrels, deliberately slow, so that the color, tannins and aromas "penetrate" gradually, and are not "extracted" quickly.
Individual "batches" of wine are stored in barrels for about 12 months, then combined into a mixture and the wine is transferred to a large-volume Austrian "Stockinger" oak foudre (about 1,000–4,200 l) for a long, calm maturation phase - 30/36 months.
Serve at 16-18 °C with beef, steaks, red meat stews, grilled beef sausages, matured cheeses.
The best wine so far (although I suspect the 2015 may ultimately enter the picture as well) is the nearly perfect Promontory Estate. It is simply richer and fuller, with greater integration of tannin, and tastes spectacular. With an opaque, dense purple color and notes of graphite, wet rocks, blackberry and blueberry fruit, some charcoal, and again, loads of spice and loamy soil nuances, the wine has great intensity, a full-bodied texture, and finely grained, sweet tannin. This is a stunner and again, accessible, but its best days are probably a good decade away, as this could very well turn out to be a 40- to 50-year wine.
Dark, tannic and concentrated with amazing ripeness and densely packed savory flavors. This is a ripe vintage with flavors that are primary and dense. Tannins are elevated and generous and the finish is fairly long. There is much potential in this barrel sample. Tasted in: Napa Valley, USA. Maturity: Young.
In the early 1980s while hiking along Oakville’s southwestern ridge, H. William Harlan discovered an isolated territory. The hidden expanse—ancient and untamed—moved him deeply, but remained elusive until the Harlan family finally captured it in 2008. As the second generation explored and worked with the land, they began to make discoveries of their own. At the core of this wild terrain they found a powerful geologic convergence, which had shaped its steep, rugged topography, and created the conditions for an altogether exotic winegrowing environment. Over time they found that the dramatic landscape—just beyond the edge of the known—would slowly change them, and ultimately inspire a new endeavor: Promontory.
