March 21, 2024 - Hold 8 years.
February 15, 2024 - Amazing. Brought the 2019 Penultimate to the restaurant for Valentine's Day dinner. Paired it with a fancy burger (fried onion, pimento cheese, tomato, lettuce, bacon and a side dill pickle) and steak fries. It was pretty good then, if not a bit wound up, where we drank about half the bottle. I allowed the trapped oxygen to interact with the wine in the bottle for another 24 hours before revisiting. It was much better. It's still a young wine so, if trying to go for awesome with the first sip, a healthy decant or double decant is recommended. Color was dark, dark purple. The nose was warm and so inviting with ripe strawberries. The palate was fresh with a pleasant mouthfeel. Tannins were definitely there. Smooth down the gullet. Thank goodness I still have 2 more bottles.
February 12, 2024 - Napa and Sonoma, January 2024: Tasted at winery.
Dark plum and hint of chocolate on the nose.
A little sour on the palette, hint of spice, with flower and dark pit fruit.
November 24, 2023 - Tasted at the winery along with 2017 Promontory and 2021 Promontory barrel samples. Beautiful layers of ripe black fruits and red fruits, violet, licorice, vanilla, up front and easy drinking, but not as structured as the 2017 Promontory. 95-96pts
November 14, 2023 - fruit forward, floral, some vanilla notes. very young and fine tannins
July 16, 2023 - Tasted at Promontory next to the Promontory ‘10, ‘17 and a barrel sample of ‘21. Tasting them side by side, Penultimate is a richer, full bodied cab blend where the fruit is ripe and up front. Black cherry, pepper. This is a great wine, just very different than Promontory. They play well together.