2020 Promontory Proprietary Red
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Tasting notes
This is a wine of amazing precision and perfume. A pivotal vintage for the estate, picked two weeks earlier than normal and before fires swept through the valley, it’s a stunning wine. Extraction was gentler and the alcohol is around 13%. It’s a wine of brightness and texture – a fine, chalky, powdered grip of tannins that complements the seamless fruit. The nose shifts with florals and earthier minerality, a savoury, saline edge to the crunchy fruit and juicy acidity. There’s purity and delicacy, with a finesse that is truly remarkable.
Critic scores
Average Score
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Deep purple. Mineral and tobacco with dark-cherry fruit – restrained and elegant. Juicy, fresh acidity – fairly tight and lean with super-fine tannin and a persistent cooling finish. This is gorgeous. (SCJ)
Intense purple-garnet. Bold and ripe aromas of small red and black fruits, lightly floral, truffle, cocoa, toasted spices and nuts. Silky fine tannins, elegant structure, lush with a delicious freshness. This vintage was marked by smart decision making - harvest was three weeks earlier than usual, so five days before the Glass Fire began. Will Harlan owner, David Cili winemaker, aged entirely in large, previously seasoned Austrian oak casks, for between 2 to 3 years before bottling.
Bottled last year, the 2020 Promontory is certainly a success in the vintage, and it appears to have escaped any smoke influence. Ripe black fruits, smoke tobacco, graphite, and crushed stone define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, the firmer tannins of the vintage, and outstanding length. It will keep for 20-25 years.
About the producer
Promontory is fast becoming one of the Napa Valley’s most important estates. The property was purchased by Bill Harlan (founder of Harlan Estate) in 2008, with the first vintage – 2009 – released in 2015.