Napa Valley 2017 Promontory

Professional reviews

Robert Parker (97)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Promontory has a wonderfully fragrant nose of baked blackberries, plum preserves and black currant pastilles with an undercurrent of star anise, violets, espresso and tilled earth. Medium to full-bodied, it is soft-spoken and elegantly styled in the mouth, featuring skillfully managed, grainy tannins and bags of juicy black fruits, finishing long, earthy and remarkably energetic. This is certainly among the most profound of the 2017 Napa Cabernets and for followers of this vineyard, not one to be missed.

James Suckling (98)

Blackcurrant, tar, lead pencil and dark fruit. Full-bodied with resin, dark-berry and redwood undertones and firm, fine tannins. Salty. Leaner than some, but so long and bright. Vertical elegance here.

BOW (8.75)

Superb wine

Jancis Robinson (18)

100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Released six months earlier than usual, with the 2018 to follow next spring. The strategy works on two fronts: it covers for this much smaller vintage due to the fires around harvest in 2017, and they believe the tannin refinement in recent years means the wines are ready to drink sooner.
Deep ruby in colour, the nose here is highly refined. Lightly sweet with notes of vanilla and cherry stones, it has a pure blackcurrant tone that brings real focus. This follows on the palate, which is already layered and complex. Intense without heaviness, this is a remarkable wine in such trying conditions as those faced in 2017. It is multi-faceted, having sweetness of fruit, ripeness of tannin, freshness of acidity and measured use of fine, savoury oak. This could well warrant a higher score with more time in bottle. (TP)