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Burgess Cellars has been part of Napa Valley’s hillside story since 1972, when Tom Burgess purchased a rugged site on Howell Mountain, once home to the original Souverain Winery. The location mattered. Steep slopes, volcanic soils, and elevation drew some of Napa’s most influential figures over the years, including Mike Grgich and Warren Winiarski, long before the area became a benchmark for mountain Cabernet.

In 2020, the estate entered a new chapter when stewardship passed to the Lawrence family, continuing a long tradition of family ownership while resetting the focus for the future. Rather than chasing scale or trend, the team doubled down on the land itself, committing to regenerative and promiscuous farming practices designed to protect historic vines, restore soil health, and build resilience for decades to come.

That philosophy is captured clearly in Promiscua, a Cabernet Sauvignon shaped by place and restraint. The name reflects the vineyard approach, allowing diverse plant life to coexist among the vines, encouraging healthier soils and more balanced fruit. The goal is simple. Let the vineyard speak without forcing it.

The 2021 Promiscua delivered fruit with natural concentration and freshness, giving the wine both structure and energy. Promiscua is not built to overwhelm. It is built to hold its line, offering depth without heaviness and clarity without polish. This is Napa Cabernet viewed through a mountain lens, focused, composed, and grounded in intent.

The Wine Independent described 2021 as a dream vintage in Napa Valley. Following an exceptionally dry winter, small berries and low yields produced wines of striking concentration, ripe tannins, and purity. A steady, sun-filled summer allowed perfect ripening, making 2021 one of Napa’s finest vintages of the century.

Promiscua marks where Burgess has been and where it is going. A wine rooted in history, shaped by thoughtful change, and made with patience rather than pressure.

ABV: 13.5%

100% Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This red opens with lifted aromatics and a clean, focused core. Notes of red cassis, red plum, and Luxardo cherry lead, followed by fresh-cut cedar and a subtle floral edge.

Lively and driven on the palate, it carries real energy and structure, built to evolve and reward time in the cellar.

Such beautiful black currant, ink, iron, bark, and terra-cotta aromas follow through to a medium body, with firm tannins that are chewy too. Rose petal. Candied cherry. Fresh and fine at the end. This transparency is impressive. Almost pinot-like in its personality. All about the aromatics. Drink or hold. ~ 96 James Suckling

~ 94 The Wine Independent

This Promiscua bottling is from Sorenson, Quartz Creek, and Clos Abeille. It has the grip of Sorenson and the prettiness of Quartz Creek. This is the highest-volume wine and will be most readily available in the market, with a production of around 1,500 cases. Medium-bodied with alluring bright fruit and mineral aromatics, leading to candied bing cherry fruit that grabs ahold of the mid-palate and lingers, nuanced by rose petal florals, plums, blackberry, and crunchy pomegranate seeds. The super long finish builds in more cedarwood and toffee, all elegant and balanced, never sweet or cloying. Loads of impressionable tannins resolve with mouthwatering acidity. It's an enigma of a wine best enjoyed over a long meal. ~ 94 Decanter

The 2021 ‘Promiscua’ comes from three separate sites and is a homage to the Ancient Roman practice of Agricultura Promiscua. The wine comes from both the Sorenson and Quartz Creek Vineyards. This comes off nicely structured with dense blackberry and black cherry fruit flavors alongside coffee grounds and shades of dried herbs on the palate. Great now, enjoy over the next fifteen years to come. ~ 93 Owen Bargreen 

An enticing, delicious version, showing ripe, juicy boysenberry and blackberry paste flavors laced with anise and apple wood notes. Offers lively grip, while pretty violet and iris accents keep this balanced and fresh throughout. Drink now through 2038. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 2,142 cases made. ~ 93 Wine Spectator

Named for an ancient Roman style of biodiversity, in which olives, grapes and grains were all grown together, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Promiscua blends fruit from the original Burgess site (now called the Sorenson Vineyard) with fruit from the Quartz Creek Vineyard in Oak Knoll. All Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in just 20% new French oak, there's nevertheless a hint of charred toast on the nose, accenting notes of mint and mixed red and black cherries. Medium-bodied, it's firmly built, yet the tannins are silky, leaving a dusty note behind on the finish. ~ 91 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

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