Will Harlan ‘Promontory’ 2016

Introduction

Promontory is a high-profile Napa Valley wine label consisting of a single red wine from Cabernet Sauvignon vines growing on Oakville’s southwestern ridge. It is one of the highest-priced wines made in California. The 840-acre (340 hectares) property, isolated from other vineyards in the region, was purchased by the Harlan family in 2008. H. William Harlan had discovered it in the early 1980s while hiking the ridge but had been unable to acquire it. The fruit had previously been sold to other wineries. There are now around 80 acres of vines split across numerous plots. Though only one Cabernet Sauvignon wine is made, it is a complicated blend. Because of the variations in soil, exposure and elevation, up to 70 different passes are made through the vineyard to pick fruit in optimum condition. This results in 30 or more distinct component wines being made and aged in barrels for a year before blending. The blended wine is then further aged for several years.
100 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple, the 2016 Promontory comes barreling out of the glass with bold scents of black cherries, blueberry pie and licorice, leading to a slowly emerging core of crme de cassis, dark chocolate, black soil and truffles plus touches of cumin seed, mossy bark and beef drippings. The full-bodied palate is densely packed with muscular fruit, backed by a rock-solid structure of very firm, exquisitely ripe, grainy tannins and fantastic tension. The finish is both powerful and beautifully nuanced, hedonic and cerebrally gratifying.
100 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Estate is pure perfection and a legend in the making. Featuring incredible purity of fruit as well as powerful notes of crme de cassis, gravelly earth, cedar pencil, and chocolate, it has the fresher, pure, classic style of this great vintage front and center. With full-bodied richness and depth, it has an almost Chteau Latour-like stature and majestic quality, and it should have a similar evolution, requiring 7-8 years to hit its early drink window yet evolve for 20-30 years or more.
100 Points – James Suckling
I tasted this for the first time last year and it has only got greater. The nose is breathtaking. Purity with incredible complexity, showing dried mushrooms, blackberries, currants and cedar. Some wet earth. Dense and layered blackberries and blueberries. Full-bodied and long with beautiful depth and intensity. The tannins are ultra-long. Black truffle comes through. Love the length, finesse and focus. Release in 2022. (6/2021)
99 Points – Vinous
The 2016 Promontory is every bit as magnificent as it has always been. A wine of dimension and breadth, 2016 is so captivating in the way it engages all the senses. Unlike many Napa Valley Cabernets, Promontory, especially in structured years like 2016, really benefits from aeration. That time brings out striking floral and mineral nuance while releasing the fruit as the tannins gently melt. Hints of sage, lavender, graphite and mint lend brilliance to this beautifully sculpted, taut Cabernet Sauvignon. What a wine.