Promontory Red Blend Napa Valley 2019

Just 6 bottles of the 2019 Promontory Red Blend are left, and it’s yours for $999, down over $500 from the $1,500 retail price, for one of the most celebrated Napa Cabernet-based reds of the vintage! Bill Harlan, founder of Harlan Estate, spent more than 25 years scouting the land that became Promontory, drawn to an unusual mix of volcanic and sedimentary soils he says exist nowhere else in Napa Valley. The estate sits high in the hills behind Dominus and is a patchwork of geologies, exposures, and microclimates, including a rare parcel of calcareous soil. Harlan bought the property in 2008, and the first vintage, 2009, was released in 2015. Winemaker David Cilli, widely regarded as one of Napa’s most talented, gives the wine a long élevage in cask, a patience few Napa estates still practice outside the old-school houses. Visitors have tasted it from large Austrian oak vats, and from those large ovals it often recalls the great, traditionally made reds of Europe. The 2019 vintage had a long, even growing season with moderate weather, which favored precision, freshness, and harmony. The 2019 is a deep, dark wine that seems to hold back and lean forward at once. The nose layers blackberry, cassis, and black cherry over graphite, crushed rock, and cedar. In the mouth, it’s fresh and youthful, with tight but not massive tannins, with a vertical structure and a texture with real volume. The year’s generally opulent style makes it a little more open-knit than this site usually is, and the critics and connoisseurs are paying attention with great appreciation and a bundle of high scores, including at least two 100s. Grab yours while you can, at a price that’s hard to beat!