Promontory | Napa County
Long time Napa vintner Bill Harlan first discovered a unique piece of property located between Oakville and Yountville in the mid 1980’s while hiking in the Mayacamas Mountains. These mountains form the western side of the Napa Valley and are the site for his two other properties, Harlan Estate and BOND. Looking out over this unique and isolated part of the Napa Valley, Harlan referred to the view he saw from the ridge, as a Promontory, a fitting description for this rare point of land that overlooked a tiny valley with vineyards.
Vineyards were initially planted here in the 1980’s with additional plantings in the mid 1990’s overseen by Girard Winery. Mr. Harlan purchased the vineyards in 2008 and in 2010 purchased another section of the property - in total, just under 900 acres. Although somewhat isolated, the site for Promontory is not that far from the valley floor and counts Dominus and Blankiet as nearby neighbours with Martha’s Vineyard, Harlan Estate and BOND located just to the north. Approximately 30 acres are under vine with the majority planted to Cabernet Sauvignon with small blocks of Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Ultimately the goal is to have 65 to 70 acres under vine, less than 10% of the properties total size!
In order to keep Promontory wild, the Harlans intentionally decided not to build a winery there, instead, purchasing an existing winery just 300 yards north of Harlan Estate and transforming it into a state-of-art facility in time for the 2016 harvest. As more vineyards are planted the winery wil produce up to 3,000 cases annually.
Subscribing to what he calls the ‘200 year plan’ and taking inspiration from successful wineries in Europe, which have been family owned for generations, Bill Harland has passed on leadership at Promontory to his son Will Harlan and retained the services of Cory Empting - winemaker for Harlan Estate and BOND - alongside longtime director of wine growing Bob Levy who assumes the new winery’s director position.
Extraordinary and unique Promontory leads Napa’s next generation of premium winemaking.