2012 Promontory Proprietary Red
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Promontory is a very good wine, one that belongs to the early days here. It was the first wine to be aged partially in cask (50%) and signals a move towards the style that would come into focus more clearly with the 2014. Starting to show the first signs of aromatic development, the 2012 is also a fine choice for drinking now and over the next decade or so. Plum, espresso, mocha, new leather and a touch of French oak linger.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The first vintage to be sold outside the US. Savoury dried herbs on the nose. Real lightness and lift on the palate. Some residual sweet graphite underneath and a very grainy finish, but quite tangy on the end. Very long. Distinctive. (JR)
The 2012 Promontory is a terrific example of the vintage. Soft, radiant and charming, the 2012 will drink well pretty much upon release and certainly earlier than any other vintage. The 2012 is a sophisticated and super-polished wine.
The 2012 Promontory, which is the softest vintage to date, was slightly better this year than last year, as it had rounded out. It does not have the depth of the 2013, but it is a great wine on its own merits. Notes of new saddle leather, loamy soil, and crushed rock intermingle with blackcurrants, plum, tobacco leaf and spice in a full-bodied, wonderfully pure and large-scaled style with ripe, well-integrated tannin. It is accessible enough to enjoy, and in spite of its massiveness, it is certainly capable of evolving beautifully for 30 or more years.
About the producer
Promontory is fast becoming one of the Napa Valley’s most important estates. The property was purchased by Bill Harlan (founder of Harlan Estate) in 2008, with the first vintage – 2009 – released in 2015.