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The December 2025 Auction: Part 2
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1 / 2Lot 189
Estimate: $200
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Collection name
Reviews
94AG
"The 2013 Penultimate is a dark, brooding beauty that captures all the qualities of the Grand Vin, if I can use that phrase, but in a slightly more accessible style that can be enjoyed with just a few years in bottle. Iron, incense, tar, espresso, licorice and dark fruit all meld together in a powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignon that expresses the essence of place and the year in its muscular personality. Time brings out the wine’s natural power, but intense saline and mineral underpinnings remain constants. This is a super-impressive debut. About ten years ago Bill Harlan took me to a small winery a stone’s throw from Meadowood and The Napa Valley Reserve. He took out a set of maps and spread them out over a coffee table. “This is our latest project,” he told me as his eyes lit up. Harlan explained that he had chanced upon this property while hiking years prior and used evocative phrases like “the land” and “the territory” to describe a place that sounded like something out of the Wild West or a fairy tale, possibly both. That sort of mysticism is not often associated with Napa Valley, but Napa Valley can be that way once you move away from the well-known areas. That place was Promontory. I recently had a chance to taste the first three vintages of Penultimate, the newest wine from the property, with Will Harlan and Winemakers Cory Empting and David Cilli."
Region
Red
Country
Score
"The 2013 Penultimate is a dark, brooding beauty that captures all the qualities of the Grand Vin, if I can use that phrase, but in a slightly more accessible style that can be enjoyed with just a few years in bottle. Iron, incense, tar, espresso, licorice and dark fruit all meld together in a powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignon that expresses the essence of place and the year in its muscular personality. Time brings out the wine’s natural power, but intense saline and mineral underpinnings remain constants. This is a super-impressive debut. About ten years ago Bill Harlan took me to a small winery a stone’s throw from Meadowood and The Napa Valley Reserve. He took out a set of maps and spread them out over a coffee table. “This is our latest project,” he told me as his eyes lit up. Harlan explained that he had chanced upon this property while hiking years prior and used evocative phrases like “the land” and “the territory” to describe a place that sounded like something out of the Wild West or a fairy tale, possibly both. That sort of mysticism is not often associated with Napa Valley, but Napa Valley can be that way once you move away from the well-known areas. That place was Promontory. I recently had a chance to taste the first three vintages of Penultimate, the newest wine from the property, with Will Harlan and Winemakers Cory Empting and David Cilli."
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The fourth-largest wine producer in the world, led by California. American fine wine is defined by ripe, expressive fruit and a spirit of innovation, with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon among the most sought-after wines globally.
California's most prestigious wine region, celebrated worldwide for opulent, structured Cabernet Sauvignon. Diverse soils and mountain-to-valley-floor sites yield wines of remarkable ripeness, power and longevity.
Yountville is a sub-AVA in central Napa Valley, California, producing balanced, structured Cabernet Sauvignon of ripe dark fruit and firm yet refined tannins, blending power with elegance.
The world's most planted premium red grape, yielding deeply colored, tannic and structured wines with cassis, cedar and graphite notes. Firm tannins and acidity make it exceptionally age-worthy, whether as a varietal or the backbone of a Bordeaux blend.