| Score: |
94 AG.
"The 2016 Penultimate is fascinating to taste next to its sibling, as it has all of the qualities of this great vintage - namely complexity, dimension and stature - just with less intensity. Bright saline notes give the 2016 its nervy personality, but there is plenty of finesse too. Lavender, sage, gravel and spice play off a core of dark fruit in this stylish Cabernet Sauvignon from the Promontory estate. Many years ago, Bill Harlan told me he wanted to show me something. He took out a set of maps and rolled them out on a table in the original Promontory winery. He talked of a place that sounded mystical, right out of a fairy tale. He called it 'the territory.' The place was Promontory. Whereas Harlan Estate and Bond remain very linked to the specific eras when they were founded, Promontory is all new. It is where vineyard and winery experiments happen first. Promontory has ascended into the stratosphere in a very brief period of time. These days, the Harlan empire is run by Will Harlan and Winemaker Cory Empting, who have entrusted Winemaker David Cilli with Promontory. Cilli, in turn, has responded with set of stunning wines culminating with the extraordinary 2018. In addition to being made from a very special and rugged piece of land, Promontory is distinguished by its relatively long élevage (by Napa standards) in cask, which is not seen at all in Napa, with the exception of a few very old school estates." Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com, Oct 2021 |