Promontory is one of the cellars with the most interesting morphological characteristics in the Napa Valley.
The company’s vineyards, besides holding the record in terms of elevation in the wine producing region (500 meters above sea level), are positioned inside a totally unpolluted nature.
In fact, the vineyards are encircled by wild forests rich in an incredible quantitative of flora and fauna with which Promontory has an extraordinary relationship: the company not only takes care of their vineyards, but it is also deeply invested in all the area that surrounds the plantations, which they call “wilderness”.
These wild expanses struck H. William Harlan, company’s founder, during an excursion along the Oakville south-west crest at the beginning of the 80s.
The Harlan’s family was only able to obtain the territory in 2008 to give life to the great company that is the cellar today.
But Promontory’s uniqueness goes beyond that. There are three different soil typologies in the vineyards that make the company’s territory truly extraordinary.
This differentiation is due to the fact that, in this area, the soils have a recent geological age, less than 1 million years, and this attracts geologists from all over the world in search of rare minerals that are only present here.
Promontory Hospitality
Once we arrived at Promontory, one of the things that struck us the most is that we were not served a glass of wine of their production, but a Dom Pérignon bottle. Keeping the companies united is a perfect bond which allows the California company to offer their visitors a wider and surely unexpected service. Besides, why not starting from champagne before heading towards the tastings of the extraordinary red wines that characterize the cellar’s production?
During our visit in the cooper, Brett Anderson (culture and communication director at Promontory) told us a curious anecdote which can also prove to be fun: in the past, during the purchase of some Austrian rover barrels, Promontory was diminished by European professionals who stated that purchasing barrels of such prestige wouldn’t have had any sense for American wines production. In spite of the prejudices, the company did not give up and believes today that those barrels adapt perfectly to express their vineyards’ identity.
We always talk about inclusive wine tourism and here at Promontory we found it. We must underline that exclusivity is not only finding ourselves in great places, tasting extraordinary wines, but it is especially to benefit from a unique atmosphere which is able to make you feel at the center of the experience. And here there were all the requirements for this to happen.
