Winemaker Notes
Despite an eventful vintage, the wine initially imparts an outward calm that emanates, on the nose, from its cool minerality. A quiet reserve defines the approach, in which gentle traces of wet stone, and mist-steeped forest softly draw the imagination closer to the surface—and then, beneath it. This is an inward journey, a descent into the wine, which asks time in the glass for discovery of its dimensions folded within. Here, deeper down, a luminous vibrancy gradually reveals the whole. An absence of extraneous ornament allows crisp acidity and fine tannins to frame a crystalline translation of the character of this untamed place. The wine's composed, elegant clarity, born of the vines' own wisdom, represents an inflection point—a brief moment of illumination—in Promontory's enduring pledge to unlock the hidden intrinsics of the territory.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Incredible aromas of blackcurrants, black cherries, black olives, lavender, violets, hazelnut and black tea. Forest floor. So complex. Full-bodied with wonderfully integrated tannins that are ultra-fine and melt into the wine, spreading across the palate. Perfectly meshed. This has real presence and energy. Cool wet stones, mountain air, and dark fruits make up the palate. November 2024 release. It will need three to four years to come around. Try after 2028.
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Decanter
The 2020 Promontory harbours a distinct coolness, with aromas of bay laurel, sagebrush, unsmoked tobacco, and pure black currant fruit. On the palate, it has a lovely medium-bodied presence, with firm, mineral-laced tannins that carry a granular texture, building with vivid intensity and focused precision. A host of savoury notes emerge, redolent of black olive, thyme, and rosemary, with an underlying cherrywood nuance. Tension-filled yet complemented by freshness, the wine unfolds into an extraordinarily long, savoury, mineral-rich finish, marked by crunchy acid tension. The grapes were harvested just 10 days before the fires broke out in Napa Valley, showcasing the exceptional quality of the growing season—a glimpse of what might have been had the fires not occurred.
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Jeb Dunnuck
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.
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Vinous
The 2020 Promontory is one of the unqualified successes of this challenging growing season—so much so that I can only conclude that the bottle I tasted in 2023 was not at all representative. Dark cherry, plum, espresso and menthol fill out the layers. There's some edginess in the tannin, but that is a relatively small critique within the context of the year. This is a far better bottle than what I tasted last year.
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Wine Spectator
This shows modest energy, with savory and bay leaf notes infusing a core of gently mulled black cherry and blackberry fruit. There’s a subtle iron twang on the finish, which also offer a slightly toothy hint of plum skin. Drink now through 2032.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.