2014 Promontory

The 2014 Promontory is fascinating to taste next to more recent wines, as it was clearly a point of departure back in the day. At ten years of age, the 2014 remains quite youthful and also a poignant reminder of how far the winery has come since then.

Well, it didn't take very long for Promontory to scale the heights in Napa Valley. It has been a pretty fast ascent for Promontory, a project I have followed ever since Bill Harlan showed me the first maps of the property as he was putting together the pieces that constitute the present day estate. Winemaker Davide Cilli has turned out a set of mind-blowing wines over the last few years. In this tasting, the 2014 is extraordinary, but the 2015 and 2016 aren't far behind. If anything, those vintages may very well have their day too, given the glacial pace at which these wines age. Promontory starts off its life in small French oak barrels, but then finishes its aging in Stockinger ovals. Large format oak is a pretty radical departure from the way most Napa Valley Cabernets are made, and yet it is an approach that has proven to be exceptionally well suited for Promontory. It is hard to be great. It is even harder to create an environment in which others can excel. Bill Harlan has done that repeatedly. He did that with Bob Levy at Harlan Estate and BOND, and then gave Cory Empting the space to take those wines to the next level. Now, Harlan and his team have done the same thing at Promontory. These wines are positively stunning. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Winemaker David Cilli, originally from Montalcino, is making superb wines at Promontory that brilliantly marry structure with fruit intensity. Bill Harlan’s decision to entrust such an important new project to a young, and up until now, unknown, winemaker is paying off big time. A significant portion of Promontory is aged in cask, which seems to be very well suited in bringing out a very real sense of translucence in these wines.