Napa Valley's most high-profile father-and-son operations, Harlan Estate and Promontory.
Any local I have ever discussed this with is agreed that if ever there were a successor to the late Robert Mondavi as squire of Napa Valley, it is Bill Harlan, but there are important differences. Whereas Mondavi was a rather impetuous showman, Bill Harlan is an extremely meticulous planner. And while the downfall of Robert Mondavi and family as custodians of the famous winery he established in Oakville in 1966 was the lack of a workable succession plan, Harlan has been obsessed by the subject of succession and the...