Bill Harlan is an illustrious name in the wine world. The Napa vintner is the force behind the sought-after Cabernet-based reds of his Harlan Estate (founded 1984), Bond (founded 1996) and Promontory (founded 2008), from vineyards carved into remote and rugged landscapes. Harlan is also the developer and proprietor of Meadowood, the region’s first luxury resort and the original host site of Auction Napa Valley in 1981. A destination for wine country visitors, the property helped define the style of hospitality and tourism Napa is known for today.

H. William Harlan’s life before coming to wine is equally fascinating, including years spent sailing international waters and exploring distant lands and careers racing cars and motorcycles and playing professional poker. Later, his success in business, especially real estate, would finance his winemaking dreams, which had germinated decades earlier when the young man visited then-quiet Napa Valley wine country.

Since he began building a legacy in Napa, a trajectory he calls his “200-year plan,” Harlan has been instrumental in the region’s rise as a world-class wine region, and today he continues to hone his focus on winegrowing as “an art of man and nature, that delights, enriches and inspires.” Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken interviewed Harlan about his life and work.