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The December 2022 Auction: Part 1

Auction # 739 | View Auction Schedule and Details
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Auction Ends: 12/1/2022 6:00:00 PM PDT

Lot #974. Promontory Penultimate 2015

Description: Consists of 1 Bottle, 0.75L
Score: 95 AG.
"Although the 2015 Penultimate is the youngest wine in this tasting, it is also the most approachable because of the warmth of the year. Exotic and ripe, the 2015 has an extra kick of mid-palate sweetness that makes it a total pleasure to taste today. Inky dark fruit, spice, dried herbs, crushed rocks and licorice capture the interplay of richness and savoriness that is a signature of warmer years here. The growing season had plenty of challenges, starting with cold weather early on and significant shatter that lowered yields considerably. A blast of heat at the end of the season accelerated ripening and led to a harvest that was a good week earlier than normal. The 2015 is a thrilling, hedonistic wine that hits all the right notes. 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." Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com, Sep 2020
Provenance: The Cultivar Cellar
Lot Location: Orange County
Estimate: $275

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