Promontory Napa Valley Red Blend 750ml 2018

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.