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Items not labeled as Rapid Ship or Pre-arrival may require a transfer from the warehouse to our shipping facility before shipping, which can take 4–6 business days. Learn more on the Shipping Info page.
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Long Term Pre-arrival Definition: Ordering wine directly through us from our supplier partners in Europe in advance of the item’s physical arrival in the US.
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SKU 894036
$649.94Original price was: $649.94.$549.94Current price is: $549.94./bottle
4 in stock
Availability: There are 4 bottles available for Rapid Shipment or in-store pick up at our location in Ballston Lake, N.Y.
The 2018 Penultimate is a seriously beautiful wine that captures all the qualities that made this vintage so special. Bright and articulate, the 2018 is wonderfully vibrant from start to finish. Dark red cherry, plum, mocha, spice, cedar and dried herbs flesh out in this super-expressive and inviting edition of Penultimate.
Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.
Region California
California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.
Appellation Napa Valley
When it comes to New World wines, and especially wines from the United States of America, Napa Valley is something of a standard bearer. Over its relatively short history, it has managed to transform itself from being a fairly insignificant region, to becoming one of the most important and highly regarding wine locations on earth. With an ideal climate for viticulture, blazing sunshine and a low level of rainfall, this valley is shielded on many sides by mountain ranges which help it maintain a consistent level of heat, light and moisture throughout the year. Today, Napa Valley is a home of innovation and quality, with dozens of grape varietals thriving in the fertile soils. However, the main varietals grown there have always been Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Zinfandel, and the wines they produce are constantly lauded by critics and competitions across the globe.
VM93pts
Vinous Media
The 2018 Penultimate is a seriously beautiful wine that captures all the qualities that made this vintage so special. Bright and articulate, the 2018 is wonderfully vibrant from start to finish. Dark red cherry, plum, mocha, spice, cedar and dried herbs flesh out in this super-expressive and inviting edition of Penultimate.
Winery Notes
Behind many brilliant flagship wines is another bottling from the producer—often (but not always) a larger production, sold for less, and containing fruit that didn’t make the cut for the winery’s signature red. The model (which is growing) is useful. The estate has a profitable channel for grapes it steers away from its icon wine, making it painless to shape that wine into its very best self from only top-performing vineyard blocks. It allows a broader swath of consumers to enjoy the more affordable wine, which often benefits from the same meticulous treatment the flagship receives; and for collectors, the “second wine” can often be enjoyed sooner, while they wait for the flagship bottle to come into its own in the cellar.
One of Napa Valley’s newest releases under an iconic brand—Penultimate, from the Harlan Family’s seminal Promontory Estate—indeed checks a couple of those boxes, but it is far more than a so-called “second.” It plays a critical role of its own in relationship to the pinnacle that is Promontory. In fact, in a remarkable way, it helps elevate the wine it aspires to be.
Penultimate—whose ancient arrowhead depicted on the label (found on the property) is so nearly perfect as to be thought a prototype for others to be modeled on—is available, of course, to Promontory members, and those not there just yet can sign up for the waiting list. But the wine is also available for visitors to the winery to purchase in three-packs from the library list. Because there’s so little of Penultimate made (those are exclusive vineyards blocks in line to reach Promontory status), it’s not poured for visitors. But a tour of the spectacular citadel of concrete and steel that is Promontory, with its cellar ringed with artfully backlit casks, and a tasting of several vintages of the signature wine (one in that cellar setting) are a treat in themselves. And a three-pack of Penultimate in your cellar at home after the fact will offer fascinating insight into the pretty exceptional “next-to-the-last stages” behind Promontory.
Rapid Ship
