Bond Pluribus

When Bill Harlan and Bob Levy founded BOND in 1997, their deliberate transgression was applying Burgundy's single-vineyard logic to 100% Cabernet Sauvignon — the antithesis of the Bordeaux blending model at sibling estate Harlan Estate. Pluribus, first released in 2003, sits at the apex of that project: BOND's highest-elevation cru, climbing above 1,000 feet on the western slopes of Spring Mountain District, where volcanic bedrock forces roots deep and restricts yields to a degree no valley-floor site can replicate. That elevation and fractured volcanic substrate compress the growing season, building structural tension and lithic grip into the fruit before harvest.

Vinification follows the same protocol applied identically across all five crus so that only site speaks: spontaneous native-yeast fermentation conducted mostly in barrel at 78–82°F, four pump-overs per day plus punch-downs at peak fermentation, and a long post-fermentation maceration calibrated to the vintage's personality. Aging proceeds in French oak — almost entirely new — from Taransaud, Darnajou, and Sylvain, with each harvest block (the vineyard may be picked in up to 17 separate passes) kept separate until final blending. The 2009 vintage, a warm and generous Napa year, delivered concentration that Pluribus's volcanic structure channels into density rather than opulence. At over a decade from harvest, primary fruit has integrated into the oak framework; the drinking window extends well into the late 2020s for those who prefer full tertiary development.