BOND

BOND was founded by Bill Harlan and winemaker Bob Levy in the mid-1990s, after Harlan sold Merryvale Vineyards (where the two had worked together since 1986). Trade sources split on the precise founding year: many reference works cite 1996, others cite 1997, and the BOND producer site does not specify a date on its public pages. The first commercial release was the 1999 vintage, introducing Melbury and Vecina as the two inaugural vineyard designates. The dedicated BOND winery opened in Oakville in 2000; early vintages had been vinified at Harlan Estate. Over the following years St. Eden, Pluribus, and Quella joined the portfolio as each site proved worthy after extended evaluation under BOND viticultural management. The guiding idea, distinctive in Napa at the time, was that individual vineyard sites in the valley could be vinified separately to express their distinct character, in the same way that Burgundy's grand crus are treated.

• Bill Harlan and Bob Levy founded BOND in the mid-1990s after the sale of Merryvale Vineyards; trade sources split between 1996 and 1997 founding dates
• First commercial release was the 1999 vintage with Melbury and Vecina; dedicated BOND winery opened in Oakville in 2000
• Early vintages were produced at Harlan Estate before the BOND winery was built
• Roughly 100 candidate vineyard sites were evaluated over more than 30 years before the five portfolio sites were selected

BOND operates as a sister project within the Harlan family portfolio alongside Harlan Estate and Promontory. In April 2021, Will Harlan, son of founder Bill Harlan, was appointed Managing Director of the family properties, marking a formal transition to the second generation of family leadership. Bill Harlan retained his role as Founder and Chairman. Cory Empting, who joined the estate in 2000 and has served as Director of Winemaking since 2008, was elevated simultaneously to Managing Director of Winegrowing across all family estates, providing continuity of the viticultural vision. Bob Levy, the founding winemaker, continues in an active emeritus role. The Harlan family received the Golden Vines Award for Best Fine Wine Producer in the Americas in both 2024 and 2025.

• Will Harlan appointed Managing Director of BOND and the family estates in April 2021
• Cory Empting has served as Director of Winemaking since 2008, having joined the family estates in 2000
• Bob Levy, co-founder and original winemaker, continues in an active emeritus role
• Harlan family estates received the Golden Vines Award for Best Fine Wine Producer in the Americas in 2024 and 2025

BOND's five vineyard sites span Napa Valley from Spring Mountain in the west to the eastern hills above the valley floor, each contributing a distinctly different soil profile and topographic character. Melbury is a 7-acre hillside vineyard on the slopes north of Lake Hennessey, in the hills east of Rutherford, planted on ancient sedimentary soil with compressed clay; it shows floral, red-fruited elegance. Vecina is an 11-acre site in Oakville's western foothills, adjacent to Harlan Estate, planted on bedrock overlain with fine-grained alluvial wash. St. Eden is an 11-acre rocky knoll just north of the Oakville Crossroad, at a low elevation of 145 to 188 feet, planted on iron-rich fractured volcanic rock created by an ancient landslide; despite the cult Oakville-Pritchard Hill associations of Napa folklore, the producer locates St. Eden firmly at the Oakville Crossroad rather than in the Pritchard Hill highlands. Pluribus is a 7-acre site on Spring Mountain at 1,137 to 1,327 feet elevation, on decomposed volcanic material surrounded by conifer forest. Quella is a 9-acre site in the eastern hills at 433 to 595 feet, on an ancient riverbed of cobble and rocks interwoven with tufa (volcanic ash). None of the sites is owned by BOND; all are held under long-term evergreen contracts.

• Melbury: 7-acre hillside vineyard north of Lake Hennessey, east of Rutherford; ancient sedimentary soil with compressed clay
• Vecina: 11-acre site in Oakville's western foothills, adjacent to Harlan Estate; bedrock overlain with fine-grained alluvial wash
• St. Eden: 11-acre rocky knoll just north of the Oakville Crossroad at 145 to 188 feet elevation; iron-rich fractured volcanic rock from an ancient landslide (not in the Pritchard Hill highlands)
• Pluribus (7 acres, Spring Mountain, 1,137 to 1,327 feet, decomposed volcanic) and Quella (9 acres, eastern hills, 433 to 595 feet, ancient riverbed with tufa) complete the portfolio
• All five vineyard sites are held under long-term evergreen contracts rather than owned outright; BOND maintains complete viticultural control

BOND's winemaking philosophy applies a Burgundian terroir-expression model to Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, a posture that was unusual in Napa Valley when the project launched in the late 1990s. Every wine is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a single vineyard, and each site is harvested and vinified in multiple separate lots to capture the precise ripeness of individual blocks. A single vineyard can require up to 17 separate harvest passes and vinifications within one vintage. Vineyards are managed under BOND supervision for five to seven years before their fruit qualifies for the portfolio, so that the team fully understands each site before committing it to a bottling. Production for each of the five wines is strictly limited to 450 to 600 cases per vintage. The Matriarch, introduced from the 1999 vintage, blends fruit from all five vineyards into a single wine that serves as the portfolio's secondary label.

• All five BOND wines are 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, single-vineyard, and produced in 450 to 600 cases per vintage
• Up to 17 separate harvest passes and vinifications may be conducted within a single vineyard in one vintage
• Vineyards are managed under BOND supervision for five to seven years before fruit enters the portfolio
• The Matriarch, introduced from the 1999 vintage, blends fruit from all five vineyard sites as a secondary label

BOND occupies a singular position in American fine wine because it introduced a rigorous, Burgundy-style grand cru framework to Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at a time when such thinking was nearly absent from the region. By committing to single-vineyard, single-varietal expression from sites evaluated over decades and managed with obsessive precision, BOND demonstrated that Napa could aspire to the same kind of site-specific terroir conversation long associated with the great estates of the Cote d'Or. The wines regularly receive perfect or near-perfect scores from major critics: the 2016 Vecina earned 100 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and the 2013 Pluribus was named among Robert Parker's '20 Most Extraordinary Red Wines' in 2016. With production capped at under 600 cases per label annually and a waiting-list model for allocation, BOND sits at the apex of Napa Valley collectibility. The winery has continued to search for additional sites that meet the portfolio's evaluation standard.

• BOND pioneered the single-vineyard, Burgundy-inspired grand cru approach to Napa Cabernet Sauvignon when the project launched in the late 1990s
• 2016 Vecina received a perfect 100-point score from Robert Parker Wine Advocate; 2013 Pluribus named among Parker's 20 most extraordinary red wines in 2016
• Fewer than 600 cases produced per vineyard per vintage; wines are sold by allocation with demand far exceeding supply
• BOND continues to evaluate sites that could meet the portfolio's selection standard, extending the same multi-decade process used for the existing five crus