Opened next to ‘12 Screaming Eagle to compare and contrast. It hard to argue against the fruit and structure of the Harlan wines. My first encounter with Harlan also remains one of my greatest wine moments (‘94 vintage at a restaurant in Wilmington, DE in 1999). That being said, the ‘12 is not my favorite vintage for this stellar wine. The tannins are a bit “dusty” and the wine just never comes together into harmony. By all means - it’s still a delicious, fruit forward wine with an intensity few others can match, but it’s just not stellar like you expect from Harlan. The ‘12 Screaming Eagle was the WOTN for me and most others (including fkacondor).
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From a rare half bottle. Haven’t had many Harlans. This 2012 was significantly better than a 2011 I had 5 years ago which just tasted like a French oak barrel. For a younger Cab, it was surprisingly elegant with dare I say some minerality. I’m far more a Bordeaux fan than California, so that elegance is a big plus. You wouldn’t confuse this with Bordeaux though with such hedonistic sweet fruit.
This wine more than prior Harlan was very reminiscent of Bond wines particularly in terms of the moderately toasty oak, more like medium than dark roast coffee. But, the fruit ripeness of Harlan for me makes it preferable to Bond which always tastes weedy to me. Perhaps the blend of Bordeaux varietals is additive to the richness.
My wife enjoyed it but question why it should cost more than a Bordeaux first growth when the big 5 taste more complex and sophisticated. Also, we agreed a mid-priced Napa like Phelps Insignia delivers a comparable experience. I don’t see the complexity I expect for forking down all the 💵💵💵. Regardless, I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to try this. Life is grand!
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blind A powerful Cali Cab but style wise very similar to a modern Bordeaux but still more lush fruit. Some spicieness in the finish. One hour of decantation. 97
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Saved best for last bottle of evening( following Pritchard Hill Chappellett 2015) this was just a beauty - complex but smooth and lingering on the palette; I must confess first time I have enjoyed Harlan Estate and at the moment a bit speechless as this was everything and then some.
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Simply a magnificent wine experience. Massive brooding dark fruit, glorious glycerine like texture and smooth as silk. A genuine tour de force. Parker rating absolutely spot on and for me, super close to perfection.
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Saturday get-together: This is my fourth time with this wine, so I’ll just mention some particulars that I think might be noteworthy. This presented as advertised and expected for the most part, with a rich and chewy presentation that speaks to quality black and blue fruit and alluring texture. On the initial pop of the cork, the expression was somewhat muted, and it took a ton of swirling to finally get it into 3rd gear. Once it began to show some of its personality, the flavors began to meld (and melt) in a way that added to an improved mouthfeel. On first pass, it was not especially inviting or in balance, with a prominent cassis note dominating the flavor landscape over the blacker berry, earth, and spice notes. The final sips were the best, but I have to admit that it never fully blew past the stratosphere in a way I have experienced with previous bottles. A small disappointment to be sure, but not a catastrophic one.
The day before this event I would have recommended consumption now and within the next 5-7 years. I’ll take a more conservative route due to this latest experience – where I was given pause due to my impression that this bottle just needed more time to open (and no, not to make excuses for the wine). Bottom line, it was not a perfect showing. It was a good showing, but I can’t help but wonder if rushed/end of the night service had something to do with that. All the parts were there, but for me, they didn’t fully amalgamate the way the could (and should) have. I’ll try to hold remaining bottles to see what 15 years from vintage looks like.
New friends, new wines in Novato: What can I say about Harlan that has and always is, said about Harlan. It is Grand Cru Napa. Incredible balance, beautiful fruit and an intoxicating nose. I wonder if this bottle needed some time as I tried this really at PnP but this bottle along with my experience at the estate makes me incredibly excited for the 18' and 19' vintage that I got...or will get.
An evening with good food, great people and amazing wine (Where the silence is longed for): The notes are pretty similar to the last time I had it, not much difference. I wish I could've spent a bit more time with this, along with a bunch of others in the lineup. Love this deep pitch of dark blue fruited notes, with a seamless texture on the palate. What a treat to taste again.
Napa day trip (Arrow & Branch, Harlan) (Napa): Deep blueberry nose, a touch of dark earth, tons of dark flowers like purple and blue flowers. Flavors are similar to the last time I had it. A textural pleasure, velvety fruits, great earth, and a nice coat of minerals. Great push on flavors with a lovely elegance. The one thing that still bugs me was the length on the finish. My experience this time is similar to the last time I had it, the finish was a bit shorter than expected. Much shorter than last time. I might have enjoyed this just a touch more if it were closer to room temp.
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Party with some 100 pointers: Ready, giving, luscious, chewy, and a big polar bear hug of black berries and chocolate chunk goodness that doesn’t skip a beat in terms of textural dreaminess and seamlessness. The 2012 Harlan’s execution is textbook and flawless, with a harmonious unfolding of super rich (not heavy) and deep fruit, black soil, and dark spice notes. The concentration is unmatched here, with a smooth operator stance that is so sensual it’s almost too perfect and polished. The perception of acid here is lower; I wouldn’t categorize this as an extremely “powerful” wine in its current state, as any alcohol or over front-end push has been fully integrated, found a tremendously even glide, and adding even more to the suave and velvety profile.
Ten years from vintage, this wine is open for business right now. Sure, it has the ability to age further, but for my taste, I’d consider reaping the benefits in the near-term. The freshness-to-richness equilibrium is on-point today. An impressive showing. My third time with the 2012 Harlan and once again a truly beautiful performance.
Interestingly, a wine that was doing everything it could to outshine the Harlan was the 2016 Eisele, which was quite the turbo-engine. The two wines are obviously in different life stages and built a bit differently, but the energy and spunk on the Eisele was quite the attention-grabber, with some even favoring the Eisele at times for its seemingly unmatched tenacity. I went back and forth as to which one I liked better, well, until the 2018 Macdonald came along and walk the talk of the town. Ultimately, I defaulted to not having to pick a favorite among some of these wines. All winners.
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A monster especially after the red burgundy that proceeded this in the tasting line up. But boy wat a beautiful monster it is. Unctuous, soft tannins and mad amount of dark fruit. Of of course built to withstand time but in a very happy place right now
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A wine we tried in barrel back in 2014 when we visited the estate. Definitely has come a long way but this is a wine with many many more summers ahead of it. So polished and elegant from nose to palate , the oak is fully assimilate, the fruit is very much ruling the show but it’s not overdone or in any way out of balance. It is almost as if it’s made with an old world light hand and we wonder if this in a few decades will be like the great 90s napa cabs which at that time were made with purity and not Mr Parker in mind. A superb wine for sure and although young , it’s class shines through. 95 for now but with a lot of promise for the future.
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Drank one early. Decanted for 2 hrs, drank over the next 4hrs. Seemed like it was in a sleep phase ; light almost faint nose ( or I finally got break through Covid ), elegant and potentially beautiful wine, not in a great spot today. Tannins need 3-5 yrs minimum, they were a bit drying and gritty on the finish. 95+
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This was beautifully resolved and lovely, just a little behind the second flight 08 today which was just a little more layered and I always appreciate more merlot mix.
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Simply stunning. Opened with my wife and dear friend at Born and Raised in San Diego. Sent an email to Harlan and they suggested giving it 60-90 min and double decant prior to dining. I had to sneak a sip once opened. At first, it was wound up tight but packed with everything you want in a monster cab…it just wasn’t relaxed and inviting. After the air, and paired with a steak sampler including both American and Japanese wagyu strip, the wine blossomed into sheer perfection. At 9yrs old, the secondary notes were just beginning to show their strength. I can load up my review with all of the nose and flavor descriptions we love to express, but I prefer to just explain that this wine is seamless, integrated, and firing on every cylinder possible. There is a perfect balance of sweet fruit, smooth tannins, terrior, and masculine mouthfeel and a finish that makes you want another sip. The wine was flawless and I expect it to become even more expressive as it develops over time. One of my favorite bottles of all time is an 08 Masseto and this ranks right up there with it.
With all of that being said, there’s the price tag. I truly wish the Napa cult wines were more in line with Bordeaux. There’s no reason SE or Harlan should be more costly than Lafite, Mouton or Latour, except for perhaps the sheer volume of the Bordeaux houses compared to Harlan’s annual production. Harlan is the Ferrari of wine. Diminishing returns on your purchase price, but worth a test drive if you can sort out the finances.
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Celebrating Katherine's Return to the US!: PnP the rest of of a Coravined bottle - Wow....I wish I didn't like these wines so much as they have gotten quite expensive. This is still one of the best wines I have ever had, and deservedly so....Not sure what they do there, but Harlan wines are truly magical for me! See my previous note for flavors (11/13/21)....Served this wine to my nieces, and three of them preferred the Harlan to a 2018 Andremily, and one preferred the Andremily, although loved both wines. I loved both wines, but, IMO, Harlan stands in a class by themselves! 97 points for me, with no reservations....just wish I had bought more!
Coravined a glass for a winemaker's tasting of three Harlan wines (this was the only one I had - other 2 were 1999 and 2005). I love Harlan wines, and this one was definitely no exception! Nose was perfumed and heavenly. Mouthfeel was silky and glorious, and palate, while a little fruit forward, still managed to show off the terroir. A complete wine that will likely get even better, but oh so good now! This is an awesome wine, but not quite on par with the 1996, but I liked it better than the 2001. 97+ (my highest rating is 98)
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Probably the smoothest texture for Napa red wine I've ever tasted. Like pure silk on your palette. Amazing and complex nose, with intoxicating scents of dark fruit and vanilla. Drank over 3 hours, after a 4 hour decant. Amazing effort, and enjoyed every sip of this beauty.
Harlan luncheon at Mooo Boston with a vineyard director. This wine is incredible and ineffable. Huge nose of black and blue fruit, leather, vanilla, spice, chocolate. Crisp but smooth acidity, silky tannins, rich full body, very long finish—over 75 sec. Next to an excellent Napa Pinot I realize how beautifully restrained and balanced this is. To me this is the American cousin of Lafite and just that much more well-rounded and likable. If wine is the art of agriculture, this is a masterpiece.
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Vice Versa weekend and dinner: I got all ramped-up to write about this wine and then just re-read my notes from 4/30/2021 that basically say it all (so, refer to those notes if you want to read my novella from April). This was probably my favorite wine of the weekend. It is just so perfectly balanced, smooth, and complex. The depth is extraordinary, as in EXTRA awesome. A 2015 Promontory (as well as a number of the amazing Vice Versa wines) were nipping at the heels of this Harlan, but I can’t deny my complete adoration and affection for this amazing wine. It is an emotional response for me.
When CT’er Cristal2000 said he was considering popping the cork on this bottle, I tried to play it off casually, like that would be a wine “worth exploring” or some sort of snobby academic reply that made me think I was saying something only mildly suggestive as to the merits of opening it for “the other people.” Of course, what I really meant was, “Um, I want. Me drink. Now please.”
And yes, I hear it constantly. “But is it worth it, really?” Hell, I dunno. Generally speaking, it doesn’t put a roof over my head or cure me from cancer, so in that vein, I guess it’s not worth it. It is for me. Well, is it a bummer that it is in the top price bracket that it is…as in, it’s own bracket, leaving almost all Napa Cabs in the fiscal dust for only the elite to sample? Of course it’s a bummer. But if a Ferrari was inexpensive and everyone had one, it wouldn’t be a Ferrari. Regardless, if I (meaning me…not anyone else) had to have just one wine before I die kind of thing, this is at the top of my list.
Brooding, dark and seducing aromas of fruit straight from the pour. As I go in closer, I'm finding a mélange of macerated black and dark blue berries, a contrast of bitterness from something similar to tar and a pristine forest floor with soft but fully grown undergrowth (something like moss, grass and ferns).
Incredible flavors. On the palate there was deep dark black fruits with shades of purple, pure forest floor, pleasant bitter embers, black lead, bitter minerals and dried tree bark on the finish. To even pick flavors out is not doing this justice; this is such a well integrated blend and melding of flavors. Age played a part here as for some reason, I imagined the flavors for a younger bottling would be a bit wilder and unrestrained. This had amazing balance while still being able to exhibit an impressive streamlining of flavors. This one goes into the magic potion category.
With that being said, the length on the finish was disappointing. It's still really good of ~24-28 seconds but for the price tag, I expected this to go past the minute mark easy. At some point in time while drinking this, I began to realize a good portion of the price tag is probably in the name (and it hurts). I hate how much I enjoyed this. I have to admit it's one of the best wines I've ever tasted.
Some real questions that were thrown at me:
Is this something you have to get? Probably not.
Is this something you should try at least once? Definitely and make sure it's for an occasion where you can share with someone you care about and are able to really indulge in this.
If you're a rich made MF, salute as none of this is even a concern to you.
Not just that day. Not just that trip. Not just this year. Not encapsulated with disclaimers, exceptions, and statistical flim-flammery in order to put it into a special box for just that moment in time. Not like when someone running for Congress tells you he is the first, never-before person in the world to sit on a Congressional seat who is 53% Hungarian, 22% Austrian, and 25% Israeli, has two dogs, lives in Manteca California, and has a scar on his right cheek, and therefore is THE unique and special candidate for the position…
This was just simply and unequivocally one of the best wines…ever.
Blackberry, the deepest pitched black cherry known to the human race (and when I say deep, I mean deep – not overripe or sluggish), plum skin, soft mulch (like being under a redwood tree when nearly silent beneath your feet), charcoal, graphite, creosote, and black gravel. There are hints of unsmoked cigar and leather that also peek through the profile. The mid-palate is so saturated but also so controlled. There is a deliberateness slowly expanding the unadulterated flavors with a cadence that is unmatched in the western wine world. The finish not only lingers, it also progresses and advances, evolving on the back end of the palate and creating new memories in the recycling of flavors over and over again. A wine that can change and develop in the mouth within a single sip is certainly one that defines captivation and majesty.
There is an absolute uniqueness with the Harlan wines. I honestly didn’t want them to be unique or special. I wanted to normalize them and dismiss them off as good or even great wines that just cost too much, so I’d subsequently not “need” them in my cellar. Well, that little mind experiment didn’t work as soon as I took a sample of the 2019 from barrel. Then the 2016. Then this 2012. So yep, it’s officially all over for me on this front. I like Harlan. I want to drink more Harlan. And I’ll be buying Harlan. The addiction is terrifyingly real (If anyone has a couch in a 600-square-foot apartment for rent, let me know).
The 2012 is a pristine example of what a little bottle age can do for Harlan. Compared to the 2016, which was also amazing but a bit unresolved and wild in its current state, the 2012 has found a pathway to a gorgeous glide. A wine-life changing wine for me. And yes, I’m sure you vinegary Harlan members who have been tossing back these wines for years are reading this with healthy doses of long eyerolls and, “Gee whiz kid, tell us something we don’t know.” So, my apologies for being a drive-by tourist in the Harlan world up until now, but I admittedly don’t have a twenty-year resume with this producer. Hopefully ya’ll will let me into the secret illuminati club one day! Until then, I’ll simply say, “Thank you for the opportunity to try this amazing juice and thanks to our host Francois for sharing this gem.” And an especially singular thank you to CT’er Cristal2000 for being the Harlan sauce-boss that he is, setting up this whole thing, and allowing my petty tagalong peasantry.
During this trip, I was continually impressed with all of the wines we were fortunate enough to drink. I will say also that there were three wines in particular for me that totally crushed my cranium with their unbelievable representations of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 Harlan, 2012 Tynan MG, and 2018 Macdonald were next-level juice that dominated the landscape even among their otherwise remarkable peers.
Epic wine. Doesn't get much better. I think I tasted about 70 different cabs over the span of 3 days in Napa, and this was the best (followed very closely by the 16 Harlan and 18 MacDonald). There's something unique about the Harlan wine. It's hard to put my finger on, but I know it when I taste it. The quality, depth of flavor and almost immediate complexity are second to none. It will never be a QPR winner, but if I am going to splurge this is the first place I look.
Bursts from the glass with blackberries, plums, dried herbs, tobacco, violets, cassis and forest floor. The epitome of an iron fist in a velvet glove, this is just seamless on the palate with incredible concentration and nuance. It shows amazing complexity, with fruit, earth and minerality all taking turns in the lead. The purity of fruit, bright acidity and depth for days makes this a truly magnificent achievement. Finish is off the charts. Showing amazingly right now, but still has many years left to show its best.
Double decant 2 hours Wow. Big nose, very dark purple color, but young for sure. Graphite, gravel, soy sauce, smoked meat, blackberries, black cherry. Coffee bean, cocoa, ink, vegetal, hint of cilantro. Nice vegetal freshness with fruit. 20 second finish. Note to self do not drink the last bottle until at least 2031. Too young, but very nice potential balance. There is a Harshness that will be rounded out over time Velvety mouthfeel. Still quite tight. Wonderful wine drank too early.
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blackberries, cassis, plum, black cherry, coffee, cedar, tobacco, baking spice, and scorched earth
Rich dark fruit core mouthfeel gently coats the palate supplemented with rather strong spice and earth tones. Silky smooth, chalky fine grained tannins.
Well integrated now, short decant of 1-2 two hours gets this going now. Great stuff per usual.
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Dusty wooden nose. Mint, vanilla and lot’s of fruit but weightless - the mark of a truly great wine. Still very primary and in 5-10 years the score can easily converge on 100 if this perfect balance continues.
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Very closed and never really opened through the decant or over the several hours of drinking. Either a flawed bottle or just too young. Score withheld.
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Napa Cabernet doesn’t get much better than this - powerful, elegant, layered, and graceful, this has it all (and, at this price, it really should). This is one of the rare Napa 2012s that I think still needs air, since it was inward and linear the first few hours. At about the two hour mark, though, it unfolded into one of the greatest wines I’ve ever tasted.
Dark purple in color and medium in body, the wine offers evocative notes of blackberry, pencil lead, fresh peppercorn, cocoa beans, and dried herbs. The tastes have that classy richness of many Bond wines, but the Harlan adds more depth and viscosity. The flavors run the table from ripe (e.g., boysenberry, fresh strawberry) to savory (e.g., gravel, espresso), with a finish that goes on and on. This wine has incredible tension and generosity, and it should be going strong for at least another five years. 14.5% alcohol.
This is an exceptional wine! Earlier this year this was the best out of 9 Harlan vintages and this bottle (compared to the tasting pour back then) fully confirms that positive impression. The structure and texture of this Cab are out of this world… it doesn’t get any better. The purity, the airiness, the absolute weightlessness… Can Napa be more anymore elegant? I’m a sucker for older and old wines, for tertiary aromatics but this is just so perfect to drink today that I highly recommend to pop at least one of your bottles. 98+ points!
TN: The nose is truly amazing with a rainbow of red fruit aromas in all shapes and forms, pure fresh, ripe, candy. It‘s so airy and fragrant with herbs and some hints of minerality. Not the most complex nose at this young stage but incredibly seductive. The highlight here is the palate with the above mentioned texture which is out of this world, so silky, so airy, like drinking a cloud. Intense aromas of mostly strawberries and cherries with some darker berries intermixed. Absolute purity of fruit. Herbs, mineral scents and some earthy tones. The finest tannins and with a very good freshness and a very good length.
Decanting: Decanted for 5 hours which it needed, it was even better two hours later. Hence, 7+ hours seems to be the right amount of decanting at this point.
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Tasted blind. Decanted. Sweet jamy, baking spices, green fresh herbs but also herbal tea. Silky and incredibly light on the palate. Berries rather blue and a bit of cassis. Incredible lightness. A sexy nose yet with elegant finesse. Soft tannins, tension and concentration on the the palate. Despite the lightness no lack of depth. This is brilliant stuff and fully confirmed by last encounter in a Harlan vertical where the 2012 came in on top.
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Outstanding wine. Dusty tannins, firm structure, ample complexity. Great nose and very long finish. Opened without decanting for five hours before tasting, and it was ready. Could definitely wait a decade or longer to open this wine.
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9 Vintages of Harlan (1994-2014): Some conclusions/highlights: Harlan is certainly one of the most consistently elegant, feminine Napa wines. Wonderfully smooth structure and texture, airiness in the best possible way. Exceptional! Still, they’re not light and come with a very good aromatic pressure and complexity. While the most recent vintages showed close to perfection, the vintages from the 90s didn‘t live up to expectations. Unfortunately, they (and I include the 2004) all seemed on the downward path showing signs of fatigue with some unwanted tones on the nose (not palate) despite a most perfect provenance. The younger vintages (coming not from 10 but 30+ year old wines) will certainly have a much longer life. The best wine was the 2012, followed by 2014, 2013 and 2005. Especially the young vintages are certainly among the best Napa has to offer and worth buying.
TN: The best wine of the night. Perfectly ripe red and dark berries, baking spices, vanilla, cool and fresh nose. Rose hip, rhubarb, lots of sour cherries, a nice layer of minerality with graphite and wet crushed rocks, with time stingy toasted oak aromas. Medium+ complexity which will certainly improve once tertiary development kicks-in. All this signature Napa aromas and sweet ripeness comes in an absolute weightless and airy structure with the finest tannins and a perfect acidity with a long fruit- and mineral-driven finish. Really in a great place and it‘s quite rare to get all these Napa characteristics in such an elegant and weightless frame (the Maybach Materium `14 and the Realm Dr. Crane `14 I had recently come to mind).
Decanting: 2.5h slow-ox, almost 2h in the glass. I believe this might be good from the start but as this glass was so perfect I would give it a 3-4h decant.
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Harlan vertical (Clouds restaurant, Zurich): Harlan vertical of 9 vintages over 25 years (1994-96, 2004-06, 2012-14), quite rare apparently and not many of these happening outside of Switzerland – benefit of living in a high GDP per capita country I guess. All wines excelled distinctly with softness, elegance and feminine showings as well as perfectly integrated tannins, especially for the naughties. Wine of the night was 2012 with 2005 the runner-up and 2014 not far behind. The 1990ies showed early signs of tiring unfortunately, but maybe not a big surprise given vines were only about 10 years old back then. Francois Vignaud, an associate with Harlan, co-hosted the event and shared plenty of insights. See the tasting story for more on this. As we were explained, the 1990ies represented the childhood years for this still rather recent estate (founded 1984, first vintage 1990). The 2000s were characterized as the teenage years in slightly warmer vintages where you have to careful with the 2001-04 (all still very powerful) but where the 2005 and 2006 are reaching ideal levels of integration now. The 2010s, finally, Francois highlighted that the estate felt they arrived exactly where they wanted to be in terms of how Harlan understands their product and that they have never produced better wines than today. All bottles were opened 2.5h before the start.
After half a second in the nose it became clear to me that this must be one of the best Napa cabs excluding the Futo 5500 from the same vintage. Baking spices, vanilla, liquorice, cedar and fine oak accompany a jammy, ripe red or rather blue berry fruit. Tannins with more grip here but well integrated into a strong structure. Fresh acidity on the palate with a layered texture and medium + finish. A record year for the estate with 28k bottles produced I was told, but this clearly didn't limit quality in any way. My wine of the night without any discussion.
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Drank with my friend Chris on my birthday. What a gift. Thanks Chris. Anyway,BOOM!! This is a serious Cali Cab. I usually prefer Bordeaux but this baby walks-the-walk. Started drinking after a 3 hour decant and then drank over the next 2 1/2 hours with a NY Strip and (Real) Kobe Beef from Japan. In the beginning the wine showed its youth with the tannins being just a tad tight. However, after being open for 3 1/2 hours the wine settled in and the tannins exhibited that special Harlan elegance. The fruit was so damn pure with cassis, cherry and a very refreshing mint element in the later palate. This wine was classic Harlan - Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove. Nice to see that their style has not changed over the years. Outstanding. Drink now with a long decant or wait 5 to 15 more years.
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New York Wine Experience 2018 (New York Marriott Marquis): Some have graded this 100 points, cannot see why. It was pretty closed when I tried it, yes it has wonderful blackberry, cedar and good minerality, the finish is well done and it is a joy to drink BUT. I do not see the excitement about this wine. Why would someone pay $1500? I understand the boutique winery and supply, demand argument. But really? Phelps, Dominus, Ridge etc. produce much better wine, at a price significantly less. Still a good wine but just not at the price tag.
Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): Still waiting to have an 'ah ha' moment with Harlan. This came across as very young and tight. Definitely more of the new world style. Almost a touch too much. Would be interested to see what these are like with some more age.
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Decanted for 1hour, but it was not enough. Alcohol was a bit high. Needs at least another 5 years before touching. Very powerful with great potential. Coffee, cedar, raspberry and tobacco. Also hint of dill. Mostly herbs and spice than fruit, but great wine. It should have probably been sipped for hours, and maybe some transitions would have come out. Looking forward to trying these for the next 15 years at least.
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Blockbuster wine...decanted for 3 hours before going out to New Year's Eve dinner, and then poured it into another decanter at the restaurant. It's a monster that was delicious, but consumed before it's time! This was a wine that should have been left alone for a few more years. Drank side by side with a 2014 Colgin IX Estate and a 2014 Sine Qua Non Shakti Grenache. WOTN was the Colgin, Harlan 2nd and SQN 3rd.
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Tribecca Grill Tasting to Benefit California: My first Harlen proper, this is a very good Calif cabernet that needs at least 10 years of bottle age - or a 24-hour decant - to drink anywhere near its potential. (Or perhaps I am a hard grader). Tasty notes of blackberry, boysenberry and cherry plus some scorched earth and loads of tannins. Needs a long nap. $650 retail at winery
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Very subtle and smooth but still understated. Will benefit from a lot more aging, but it was a great drink now. Wonderful nose, with dark fruit on the palate with a subtle smokiness to it and a very long finish. Delicious
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Great wine but needs a few years. Opened fairly well for such a young wine over a couple of hours. Blackberry, tar and campfire on the nose. Rich with young velvet texture ready to evolve over the next 20 years. Way above my pay scale at $2200 in the restaurant.
Intensity, purity, power and elegance are all wrapped up with waves of sweet, lush, polished, dark boysenberries that remain with you for close to 50 seconds. Give this at least a decade to develop and you'll be amply rewarded for your patience with additional levels of complexity and silkier textures.
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Decanted 1.5 hrs Beautiful dark purple Wow. What a killer wine. Nice blackberry sugar plum, cacao, coffee, tobacco, bacon fat hint of dill. Mouth feel is pure velvet. Chocolate, black cherry, coffee rubbed meat, really well put together wine. Wonderful nose followed up by great flavors. Tannins are strong. Tons of transitions. Acid medium, weight medium. This looks like it will be something special. This thing is great and going to be amazing in 8-10 years and more of course. 98+
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Poured and compared with 2011 in Harlan thanks to the generosity of Don. The wine is huge, round, wholesome, tightly knit with dense and focused flavours, yet completely weightless on my palate, as if a very intense dream that I woke up from.....this is beyond elegance in my book, almost zen-like. Never had a wine this big yet this light. Can't wait to see where it heads later
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At the Oakville tasting during PNV week, great event hosted at Far Niente (best food of all the tastings...). Nice that they are pouring a wine like this a this tasting.
Beautiful purple/crimson color. Ripe dark fruit profile,, plums black currant, anise, coffee and vanilla. Some smoke/charcoal, light oak on back palate. Smooth, mouth coating texture. Moderate acidity and tannins.
This will be a classic, even by Harlan standards. An amazing wine from an exceptional vintage. probably starts to hit stride around 2020...my kids will be enjoying this wine in 30 years...96++
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2015 New York Wine Experience Trip; 10/19/2015-10/27/2015 (New York City, NY): This opaque crimson, massively extracted wine offers aromas and flavors of ripe black currants, plum, dark chocolate, espresso, anise and vanilla bean. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it has a silky mouth texture despite its substantial fine-grained tannins. The oak and alcohol are beautifully integrated and the mid-palate is dense. Very long and smooth on the finish, there is no doubt about the classic quality of this hedonistic Cabernet. As good as this is now, it should get even better with cellaring. Drink 2020-2035.
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fairly dark purple. Ripe smoky cassis nose. Rich creamy berry fruit, but maintaining just enough elegance to keep this in great balance and very, very nice.
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Deep, dark ruby with blue, purple accents in color. Notes of smoke, vanilla, boysenberry, blackberry, cassis and campfire embers create the aromatics. On the palate, the wine is powerful, concentrated, lush, fat and sweet, it coats your palate with a deep purple tint. With silky, velvet textures and ample weight and density in the mouth, the spicy, chocolate covered fruits linger for at least 60 seconds. Perhaps I like the 2013 Harlan just a bit more, but my guess is, I could change my mind on that in the future. I just hope I get the chance to compare those two wines back to back some day.
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Napa Valley Tour; 4/11/2014-4/15/2014 (French Laundry,Meadowood,Colgin,Araujo,Harlan....): Tasted at the estate. Barrel sample of the final blend, blended about a month ago. Impressively approachable wine, with a good ripe core, juicy and balanced. shy nose as expected and light on the oak. This has another year or so in oak, but we wonder if it really needs it. Very good and in no way overdone or overripe
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3/28/2024 - MariusA Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened next to ‘12 Screaming Eagle to compare and contrast.
It hard to argue against the fruit and structure of the Harlan wines. My first encounter with Harlan also remains one of my greatest wine moments (‘94 vintage at a restaurant in Wilmington, DE in 1999). That being said, the ‘12 is not my favorite vintage for this stellar wine. The tannins are a bit “dusty” and the wine just never comes together into harmony. By all means - it’s still a delicious, fruit forward wine with an intensity few others can match, but it’s just not stellar like you expect from Harlan.
The ‘12 Screaming Eagle was the WOTN for me and most others (including fkacondor).
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3/8/2024 - Bordeaux_Jon Likes this wine: 94 Points
From a rare half bottle. Haven’t had many Harlans. This 2012 was significantly better than a 2011 I had 5 years ago which just tasted like a French oak barrel. For a younger Cab, it was surprisingly elegant with dare I say some minerality. I’m far more a Bordeaux fan than California, so that elegance is a big plus. You wouldn’t confuse this with Bordeaux though with such hedonistic sweet fruit.
This wine more than prior Harlan was very reminiscent of Bond wines particularly in terms of the moderately toasty oak, more like medium than dark roast coffee. But, the fruit ripeness of Harlan for me makes it preferable to Bond which always tastes weedy to me. Perhaps the blend of Bordeaux varietals is additive to the richness.
My wife enjoyed it but question why it should cost more than a Bordeaux first growth when the big 5 taste more complex and sophisticated. Also, we agreed a mid-priced Napa like Phelps Insignia delivers a comparable experience. I don’t see the complexity I expect for forking down all the 💵💵💵. Regardless, I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to try this. Life is grand!
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1/20/2024 - aquacongas wrote: 97 Points
blind
A powerful Cali Cab but style wise very similar to a modern Bordeaux but still more lush fruit. Some spicieness in the finish. One hour of decantation. 97
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11/11/2023 - polearyloveswine Likes this wine: 98 Points
Saved best for last bottle of evening( following Pritchard Hill Chappellett 2015) this was just a beauty - complex but smooth and lingering on the palette; I must confess first time I have enjoyed Harlan Estate and at the moment a bit speechless as this was everything and then some.
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2/15/2023 - peter.mancell@mfg.com.au Likes this wine: 99 Points
Simply a magnificent wine experience.
Massive brooding dark fruit, glorious glycerine like texture and smooth as silk.
A genuine tour de force.
Parker rating absolutely spot on and for me, super close to perfection.
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6/27/2022 - csimm wrote: 97 Points
Saturday get-together: This is my fourth time with this wine, so I’ll just mention some particulars that I think might be noteworthy. This presented as advertised and expected for the most part, with a rich and chewy presentation that speaks to quality black and blue fruit and alluring texture. On the initial pop of the cork, the expression was somewhat muted, and it took a ton of swirling to finally get it into 3rd gear. Once it began to show some of its personality, the flavors began to meld (and melt) in a way that added to an improved mouthfeel. On first pass, it was not especially inviting or in balance, with a prominent cassis note dominating the flavor landscape over the blacker berry, earth, and spice notes. The final sips were the best, but I have to admit that it never fully blew past the stratosphere in a way I have experienced with previous bottles. A small disappointment to be sure, but not a catastrophic one.
The day before this event I would have recommended consumption now and within the next 5-7 years. I’ll take a more conservative route due to this latest experience – where I was given pause due to my impression that this bottle just needed more time to open (and no, not to make excuses for the wine). Bottom line, it was not a perfect showing. It was a good showing, but I can’t help but wonder if rushed/end of the night service had something to do with that. All the parts were there, but for me, they didn’t fully amalgamate the way the could (and should) have. I’ll try to hold remaining bottles to see what 15 years from vintage looks like.
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6/25/2022 - bsumoba Likes this wine: 97 Points
New friends, new wines in Novato: What can I say about Harlan that has and always is, said about Harlan. It is Grand Cru Napa. Incredible balance, beautiful fruit and an intoxicating nose. I wonder if this bottle needed some time as I tried this really at PnP but this bottle along with my experience at the estate makes me incredibly excited for the 18' and 19' vintage that I got...or will get.
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6/25/2022 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 98 Points
An evening with good food, great people and amazing wine (Where the silence is longed for): The notes are pretty similar to the last time I had it, not much difference. I wish I could've spent a bit more time with this, along with a bunch of others in the lineup. Love this deep pitch of dark blue fruited notes, with a seamless texture on the palate. What a treat to taste again.
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6/18/2022 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 98 Points
Napa day trip (Arrow & Branch, Harlan) (Napa): Deep blueberry nose, a touch of dark earth, tons of dark flowers like purple and blue flowers. Flavors are similar to the last time I had it. A textural pleasure, velvety fruits, great earth, and a nice coat of minerals. Great push on flavors with a lovely elegance. The one thing that still bugs me was the length on the finish. My experience this time is similar to the last time I had it, the finish was a bit shorter than expected. Much shorter than last time. I might have enjoyed this just a touch more if it were closer to room temp.
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6/9/2022 - csimm wrote: 100 Points
Party with some 100 pointers: Ready, giving, luscious, chewy, and a big polar bear hug of black berries and chocolate chunk goodness that doesn’t skip a beat in terms of textural dreaminess and seamlessness. The 2012 Harlan’s execution is textbook and flawless, with a harmonious unfolding of super rich (not heavy) and deep fruit, black soil, and dark spice notes. The concentration is unmatched here, with a smooth operator stance that is so sensual it’s almost too perfect and polished. The perception of acid here is lower; I wouldn’t categorize this as an extremely “powerful” wine in its current state, as any alcohol or over front-end push has been fully integrated, found a tremendously even glide, and adding even more to the suave and velvety profile.
Ten years from vintage, this wine is open for business right now. Sure, it has the ability to age further, but for my taste, I’d consider reaping the benefits in the near-term. The freshness-to-richness equilibrium is on-point today. An impressive showing. My third time with the 2012 Harlan and once again a truly beautiful performance.
Interestingly, a wine that was doing everything it could to outshine the Harlan was the 2016 Eisele, which was quite the turbo-engine. The two wines are obviously in different life stages and built a bit differently, but the energy and spunk on the Eisele was quite the attention-grabber, with some even favoring the Eisele at times for its seemingly unmatched tenacity. I went back and forth as to which one I liked better, well, until the 2018 Macdonald came along and walk the talk of the town. Ultimately, I defaulted to not having to pick a favorite among some of these wines. All winners.
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5/15/2022 - danckie wrote: 95 Points
A monster especially after the red burgundy that proceeded this in the tasting line up. But boy wat a beautiful monster it is. Unctuous, soft tannins and mad amount of dark fruit. Of of course built to withstand time but in a very happy place right now
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4/1/2022 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
A wine we tried in barrel back in 2014 when we visited the estate. Definitely has come a long way but this is a wine with many many more summers ahead of it.
So polished and elegant from nose to palate , the oak is fully assimilate, the fruit is very much ruling the show but it’s not overdone or in any way out of balance. It is almost as if it’s made with an old world light hand and we wonder if this in a few decades will be like the great 90s napa cabs which at that time were made with purity and not Mr Parker in mind. A superb wine for sure and although young , it’s class shines through. 95 for now but with a lot of promise for the future.
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3/5/2022 - DWStyle Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drank one early. Decanted for 2 hrs, drank over the next 4hrs. Seemed like it was in a sleep phase ; light almost faint nose ( or I finally got break through Covid ), elegant and potentially beautiful wine, not in a great spot today. Tannins need 3-5 yrs minimum, they were a bit drying and gritty on the finish. 95+
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1/11/2022 - LB88 wrote: 95 Points
This was beautifully resolved and lovely, just a little behind the second flight 08 today which was just a little more layered and I always appreciate more merlot mix.
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12/8/2021 - Fink75 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Simply stunning. Opened with my wife and dear friend at Born and Raised in San Diego. Sent an email to Harlan and they suggested giving it 60-90 min and double decant prior to dining. I had to sneak a sip once opened. At first, it was wound up tight but packed with everything you want in a monster cab…it just wasn’t relaxed and inviting. After the air, and paired with a steak sampler including both American and Japanese wagyu strip, the wine blossomed into sheer perfection. At 9yrs old, the secondary notes were just beginning to show their strength. I can load up my review with all of the nose and flavor descriptions we love to express, but I prefer to just explain that this wine is seamless, integrated, and firing on every cylinder possible. There is a perfect balance of sweet fruit, smooth tannins, terrior, and masculine mouthfeel and a finish that makes you want another sip. The wine was flawless and I expect it to become even more expressive as it develops over time. One of my favorite bottles of all time is an 08 Masseto and this ranks right up there with it.
With all of that being said, there’s the price tag. I truly wish the Napa cult wines were more in line with Bordeaux. There’s no reason SE or Harlan should be more costly than Lafite, Mouton or Latour, except for perhaps the sheer volume of the Bordeaux houses compared to Harlan’s annual production. Harlan is the Ferrari of wine. Diminishing returns on your purchase price, but worth a test drive if you can sort out the finances.
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11/24/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 97 Points
Celebrating Katherine's Return to the US!: PnP the rest of of a Coravined bottle - Wow....I wish I didn't like these wines so much as they have gotten quite expensive. This is still one of the best wines I have ever had, and deservedly so....Not sure what they do there, but Harlan wines are truly magical for me! See my previous note for flavors (11/13/21)....Served this wine to my nieces, and three of them preferred the Harlan to a 2018 Andremily, and one preferred the Andremily, although loved both wines. I loved both wines, but, IMO, Harlan stands in a class by themselves! 97 points for me, with no reservations....just wish I had bought more!
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11/13/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 97 Points
Coravined a glass for a winemaker's tasting of three Harlan wines (this was the only one I had - other 2 were 1999 and 2005). I love Harlan wines, and this one was definitely no exception! Nose was perfumed and heavenly. Mouthfeel was silky and glorious, and palate, while a little fruit forward, still managed to show off the terroir. A complete wine that will likely get even better, but oh so good now! This is an awesome wine, but not quite on par with the 1996, but I liked it better than the 2001. 97+ (my highest rating is 98)
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10/21/2021 - agrulich21 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Probably the smoothest texture for Napa red wine I've ever tasted. Like pure silk on your palette. Amazing and complex nose, with intoxicating scents of dark fruit and vanilla. Drank over 3 hours, after a 4 hour decant. Amazing effort, and enjoyed every sip of this beauty.
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10/9/2021 - Hal40@mac.com Likes this wine: 100 Points
All the S’s… Silky, Smooth,stunning,stylish, stupendous, super and the best tasting note…Yummy!!!
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9/15/2021 - Onegooddan wrote: 100 Points
Harlan luncheon at Mooo Boston with a vineyard director. This wine is incredible and ineffable. Huge nose of black and blue fruit, leather, vanilla, spice, chocolate. Crisp but smooth acidity, silky tannins, rich full body, very long finish—over 75 sec. Next to an excellent Napa Pinot I realize how beautifully restrained and balanced this is. To me this is the American cousin of Lafite and just that much more well-rounded and likable. If wine is the art of agriculture, this is a masterpiece.
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7/27/2021 - csimm wrote: 100 Points
Vice Versa weekend and dinner: I got all ramped-up to write about this wine and then just re-read my notes from 4/30/2021 that basically say it all (so, refer to those notes if you want to read my novella from April). This was probably my favorite wine of the weekend. It is just so perfectly balanced, smooth, and complex. The depth is extraordinary, as in EXTRA awesome. A 2015 Promontory (as well as a number of the amazing Vice Versa wines) were nipping at the heels of this Harlan, but I can’t deny my complete adoration and affection for this amazing wine. It is an emotional response for me.
When CT’er Cristal2000 said he was considering popping the cork on this bottle, I tried to play it off casually, like that would be a wine “worth exploring” or some sort of snobby academic reply that made me think I was saying something only mildly suggestive as to the merits of opening it for “the other people.” Of course, what I really meant was, “Um, I want. Me drink. Now please.”
And yes, I hear it constantly. “But is it worth it, really?” Hell, I dunno. Generally speaking, it doesn’t put a roof over my head or cure me from cancer, so in that vein, I guess it’s not worth it. It is for me. Well, is it a bummer that it is in the top price bracket that it is…as in, it’s own bracket, leaving almost all Napa Cabs in the fiscal dust for only the elite to sample? Of course it’s a bummer. But if a Ferrari was inexpensive and everyone had one, it wouldn’t be a Ferrari. Regardless, if I (meaning me…not anyone else) had to have just one wine before I die kind of thing, this is at the top of my list.
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6/18/2021 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 99 Points
Brooding, dark and seducing aromas of fruit straight from the pour. As I go in closer, I'm finding a mélange of macerated black and dark blue berries, a contrast of bitterness from something similar to tar and a pristine forest floor with soft but fully grown undergrowth (something like moss, grass and ferns).
Incredible flavors. On the palate there was deep dark black fruits with shades of purple, pure forest floor, pleasant bitter embers, black lead, bitter minerals and dried tree bark on the finish. To even pick flavors out is not doing this justice; this is such a well integrated blend and melding of flavors. Age played a part here as for some reason, I imagined the flavors for a younger bottling would be a bit wilder and unrestrained. This had amazing balance while still being able to exhibit an impressive streamlining of flavors. This one goes into the magic potion category.
With that being said, the length on the finish was disappointing. It's still really good of ~24-28 seconds but for the price tag, I expected this to go past the minute mark easy. At some point in time while drinking this, I began to realize a good portion of the price tag is probably in the name (and it hurts). I hate how much I enjoyed this. I have to admit it's one of the best wines I've ever tasted.
Some real questions that were thrown at me:
Is this something you have to get?
Probably not.
Is this something you should try at least once?
Definitely and make sure it's for an occasion where you can share with someone you care about and are able to really indulge in this.
If you're a rich made MF, salute as none of this is even a concern to you.
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5/29/2021 - Caveman999 Likes this wine:
Beat wine ever. 4 hour decant and so smooth. Rich fruit w
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5/29/2021 - Caveman999 wrote:
To celebrate maddies graduation. 4 hour decant. Very smooth. Berry, fruit with solid under notes to give it a lot of body. Sneers so yummy
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4/30/2021 - csimm wrote: 100 Points
3 days in Napa: Arkenstone, Memento Mori, Maxem, The French Laundry, Christopher Tynan, Kinsman, Harlan, Vice Versa, Accendo, Fairchild, Macdonald, and a truckload of others (Napa): One of the best wines I’ve ever had.
Not just that day. Not just that trip. Not just this year. Not encapsulated with disclaimers, exceptions, and statistical flim-flammery in order to put it into a special box for just that moment in time. Not like when someone running for Congress tells you he is the first, never-before person in the world to sit on a Congressional seat who is 53% Hungarian, 22% Austrian, and 25% Israeli, has two dogs, lives in Manteca California, and has a scar on his right cheek, and therefore is THE unique and special candidate for the position…
This was just simply and unequivocally one of the best wines…ever.
Blackberry, the deepest pitched black cherry known to the human race (and when I say deep, I mean deep – not overripe or sluggish), plum skin, soft mulch (like being under a redwood tree when nearly silent beneath your feet), charcoal, graphite, creosote, and black gravel. There are hints of unsmoked cigar and leather that also peek through the profile. The mid-palate is so saturated but also so controlled. There is a deliberateness slowly expanding the unadulterated flavors with a cadence that is unmatched in the western wine world. The finish not only lingers, it also progresses and advances, evolving on the back end of the palate and creating new memories in the recycling of flavors over and over again. A wine that can change and develop in the mouth within a single sip is certainly one that defines captivation and majesty.
There is an absolute uniqueness with the Harlan wines. I honestly didn’t want them to be unique or special. I wanted to normalize them and dismiss them off as good or even great wines that just cost too much, so I’d subsequently not “need” them in my cellar. Well, that little mind experiment didn’t work as soon as I took a sample of the 2019 from barrel. Then the 2016. Then this 2012. So yep, it’s officially all over for me on this front. I like Harlan. I want to drink more Harlan. And I’ll be buying Harlan. The addiction is terrifyingly real (If anyone has a couch in a 600-square-foot apartment for rent, let me know).
The 2012 is a pristine example of what a little bottle age can do for Harlan. Compared to the 2016, which was also amazing but a bit unresolved and wild in its current state, the 2012 has found a pathway to a gorgeous glide. A wine-life changing wine for me. And yes, I’m sure you vinegary Harlan members who have been tossing back these wines for years are reading this with healthy doses of long eyerolls and, “Gee whiz kid, tell us something we don’t know.” So, my apologies for being a drive-by tourist in the Harlan world up until now, but I admittedly don’t have a twenty-year resume with this producer. Hopefully ya’ll will let me into the secret illuminati club one day! Until then, I’ll simply say, “Thank you for the opportunity to try this amazing juice and thanks to our host Francois for sharing this gem.” And an especially singular thank you to CT’er Cristal2000 for being the Harlan sauce-boss that he is, setting up this whole thing, and allowing my petty tagalong peasantry.
During this trip, I was continually impressed with all of the wines we were fortunate enough to drink. I will say also that there were three wines in particular for me that totally crushed my cranium with their unbelievable representations of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 Harlan, 2012 Tynan MG, and 2018 Macdonald were next-level juice that dominated the landscape even among their otherwise remarkable peers.
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4/23/2021 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Epic wine. Doesn't get much better. I think I tasted about 70 different cabs over the span of 3 days in Napa, and this was the best (followed very closely by the 16 Harlan and 18 MacDonald). There's something unique about the Harlan wine. It's hard to put my finger on, but I know it when I taste it. The quality, depth of flavor and almost immediate complexity are second to none. It will never be a QPR winner, but if I am going to splurge this is the first place I look.
Bursts from the glass with blackberries, plums, dried herbs, tobacco, violets, cassis and forest floor. The epitome of an iron fist in a velvet glove, this is just seamless on the palate with incredible concentration and nuance. It shows amazing complexity, with fruit, earth and minerality all taking turns in the lead. The purity of fruit, bright acidity and depth for days makes this a truly magnificent achievement. Finish is off the charts. Showing amazingly right now, but still has many years left to show its best.
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4/3/2021 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Double decant 2 hours
Wow. Big nose, very dark purple color, but young for sure. Graphite, gravel, soy sauce, smoked meat, blackberries, black cherry. Coffee bean, cocoa, ink, vegetal, hint of cilantro. Nice vegetal freshness with fruit. 20 second finish. Note to self do not drink the last bottle until at least 2031. Too young, but very nice potential balance. There is a Harshness that will be rounded out over time
Velvety mouthfeel.
Still quite tight. Wonderful wine drank too early.
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1/27/2021 - pkouchu wrote: 97 Points
blackberries, cassis, plum, black cherry, coffee, cedar, tobacco, baking spice, and scorched earth
Rich dark fruit core mouthfeel gently coats the palate supplemented with rather strong spice and earth tones. Silky smooth, chalky fine grained tannins.
Well integrated now, short decant of 1-2 two hours gets this going now. Great stuff per usual.
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7/17/2020 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dusty wooden nose. Mint, vanilla and lot’s of fruit but weightless - the mark of a truly great wine. Still very primary and in 5-10 years the score can easily converge on 100 if this perfect balance continues.
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6/21/2020 - jswine15 wrote: 97 Points
Its going to be great but not ready yet
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2/6/2020 - Lord of the Bottles wrote:
Very closed and never really opened through the decant or over the several hours of drinking. Either a flawed bottle or just too young. Score withheld.
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1/25/2020 - hungrybram Likes this wine: 95 Points
Took 4hrs to open up. Velvety, mashed dark fruits, mocha. Elegant, lush, and packed with flavors.
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12/25/2019 - msuwine wrote: 99 Points
Napa Cabernet doesn’t get much better than this - powerful, elegant, layered, and graceful, this has it all (and, at this price, it really should). This is one of the rare Napa 2012s that I think still needs air, since it was inward and linear the first few hours. At about the two hour mark, though, it unfolded into one of the greatest wines I’ve ever tasted.
Dark purple in color and medium in body, the wine offers evocative notes of blackberry, pencil lead, fresh peppercorn, cocoa beans, and dried herbs. The tastes have that classy richness of many Bond wines, but the Harlan adds more depth and viscosity. The flavors run the table from ripe (e.g., boysenberry, fresh strawberry) to savory (e.g., gravel, espresso), with a finish that goes on and on. This wine has incredible tension and generosity, and it should be going strong for at least another five years. 14.5% alcohol.
In a word: wow.
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12/16/2019 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
This is an exceptional wine! Earlier this year this was the best out of 9 Harlan vintages and this bottle (compared to the tasting pour back then) fully confirms that positive impression. The structure and texture of this Cab are out of this world… it doesn’t get any better. The purity, the airiness, the absolute weightlessness… Can Napa be more anymore elegant? I’m a sucker for older and old wines, for tertiary aromatics but this is just so perfect to drink today that I highly recommend to pop at least one of your bottles. 98+ points!
TN: The nose is truly amazing with a rainbow of red fruit aromas in all shapes and forms, pure fresh, ripe, candy. It‘s so airy and fragrant with herbs and some hints of minerality. Not the most complex nose at this young stage but incredibly seductive. The highlight here is the palate with the above mentioned texture which is out of this world, so silky, so airy, like drinking a cloud. Intense aromas of mostly strawberries and cherries with some darker berries intermixed. Absolute purity of fruit. Herbs, mineral scents and some earthy tones. The finest tannins and with a very good freshness and a very good length.
Decanting: Decanted for 5 hours which it needed, it was even better two hours later. Hence, 7+ hours seems to be the right amount of decanting at this point.
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12/13/2019 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Tasted blind. Decanted. Sweet jamy, baking spices, green fresh herbs but also herbal tea. Silky and incredibly light on the palate. Berries rather blue and a bit of cassis. Incredible lightness. A sexy nose yet with elegant finesse. Soft tannins, tension and concentration on the the palate. Despite the lightness no lack of depth. This is brilliant stuff and fully confirmed by last encounter in a Harlan vertical where the 2012 came in on top.
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9/7/2019 - fournet Likes this wine: 98 Points
Outstanding wine. Dusty tannins, firm structure, ample complexity. Great nose and very long finish. Opened without decanting for five hours before tasting, and it was ready. Could definitely wait a decade or longer to open this wine.
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5/21/2019 - Cailles wrote: 98 Points
9 Vintages of Harlan (1994-2014): Some conclusions/highlights: Harlan is certainly one of the most consistently elegant, feminine Napa wines. Wonderfully smooth structure and texture, airiness in the best possible way. Exceptional! Still, they’re not light and come with a very good aromatic pressure and complexity. While the most recent vintages showed close to perfection, the vintages from the 90s didn‘t live up to expectations. Unfortunately, they (and I include the 2004) all seemed on the downward path showing signs of fatigue with some unwanted tones on the nose (not palate) despite a most perfect provenance. The younger vintages (coming not from 10 but 30+ year old wines) will certainly have a much longer life. The best wine was the 2012, followed by 2014, 2013 and 2005. Especially the young vintages are certainly among the best Napa has to offer and worth buying.
TN: The best wine of the night. Perfectly ripe red and dark berries, baking spices, vanilla, cool and fresh nose. Rose hip, rhubarb, lots of sour cherries, a nice layer of minerality with graphite and wet crushed rocks, with time stingy toasted oak aromas. Medium+ complexity which will certainly improve once tertiary development kicks-in. All this signature Napa aromas and sweet ripeness comes in an absolute weightless and airy structure with the finest tannins and a perfect acidity with a long fruit- and mineral-driven finish. Really in a great place and it‘s quite rare to get all these Napa characteristics in such an elegant and weightless frame (the Maybach Materium `14 and the Realm Dr. Crane `14 I had recently come to mind).
Decanting: 2.5h slow-ox, almost 2h in the glass. I believe this might be good from the start but as this glass was so perfect I would give it a 3-4h decant.
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5/21/2019 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Harlan vertical (Clouds restaurant, Zurich): Harlan vertical of 9 vintages over 25 years (1994-96, 2004-06, 2012-14), quite rare apparently and not many of these happening outside of Switzerland – benefit of living in a high GDP per capita country I guess. All wines excelled distinctly with softness, elegance and feminine showings as well as perfectly integrated tannins, especially for the naughties. Wine of the night was 2012 with 2005 the runner-up and 2014 not far behind. The 1990ies showed early signs of tiring unfortunately, but maybe not a big surprise given vines were only about 10 years old back then. Francois Vignaud, an associate with Harlan, co-hosted the event and shared plenty of insights. See the tasting story for more on this. As we were explained, the 1990ies represented the childhood years for this still rather recent estate (founded 1984, first vintage 1990). The 2000s were characterized as the teenage years in slightly warmer vintages where you have to careful with the 2001-04 (all still very powerful) but where the 2005 and 2006 are reaching ideal levels of integration now. The 2010s, finally, Francois highlighted that the estate felt they arrived exactly where they wanted to be in terms of how Harlan understands their product and that they have never produced better wines than today. All bottles were opened 2.5h before the start.
After half a second in the nose it became clear to me that this must be one of the best Napa cabs excluding the Futo 5500 from the same vintage. Baking spices, vanilla, liquorice, cedar and fine oak accompany a jammy, ripe red or rather blue berry fruit. Tannins with more grip here but well integrated into a strong structure. Fresh acidity on the palate with a layered texture and medium + finish. A record year for the estate with 28k bottles produced I was told, but this clearly didn't limit quality in any way. My wine of the night without any discussion.
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10/26/2018 - markricardo Likes this wine: 99 Points
Drank with my friend Chris on my birthday. What a gift. Thanks Chris. Anyway,BOOM!! This is a serious Cali Cab. I usually prefer Bordeaux but this baby walks-the-walk. Started drinking after a 3 hour decant and then drank over the next 2 1/2 hours with a NY Strip and (Real) Kobe Beef from Japan. In the beginning the wine showed its youth with the tannins being just a tad tight. However, after being open for 3 1/2 hours the wine settled in and the tannins exhibited that special Harlan elegance. The fruit was so damn pure with cassis, cherry and a very refreshing mint element in the later palate. This wine was classic Harlan - Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove. Nice to see that their style has not changed over the years. Outstanding. Drink now with a long decant or wait 5 to 15 more years.
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10/19/2018 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 93 Points
New York Wine Experience 2018 (New York Marriott Marquis): Some have graded this 100 points, cannot see why. It was pretty closed when I tried it, yes it has wonderful blackberry, cedar and good minerality, the finish is well done and it is a joy to drink BUT. I do not see the excitement about this wine. Why would someone pay $1500? I understand the boutique winery and supply, demand argument. But really? Phelps, Dominus, Ridge etc. produce much better wine, at a price significantly less. Still a good wine but just not at the price tag.
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10/18/2018 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): Still waiting to have an 'ah ha' moment with Harlan. This came across as very young and tight. Definitely more of the new world style. Almost a touch too much. Would be interested to see what these are like with some more age.
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8/27/2018 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted for 1hour, but it was not enough.
Alcohol was a bit high.
Needs at least another 5 years before touching.
Very powerful with great potential. Coffee, cedar, raspberry and tobacco. Also hint of dill. Mostly herbs and spice than fruit, but great wine. It should have probably been sipped for hours, and maybe some transitions would have come out. Looking forward to trying these for the next 15 years at least.
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12/31/2017 - lousall Likes this wine: 95 Points
Blockbuster wine...decanted for 3 hours before going out to New Year's Eve dinner, and then poured it into another decanter at the restaurant. It's a monster that was delicious, but consumed before it's time! This was a wine that should have been left alone for a few more years. Drank side by side with a 2014 Colgin IX Estate and a 2014 Sine Qua Non Shakti Grenache. WOTN was the Colgin, Harlan 2nd and SQN 3rd.
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11/20/2017 - TashNYC wrote: 93 Points
Tribecca Grill Tasting to Benefit California: My first Harlen proper, this is a very good Calif cabernet that needs at least 10 years of bottle age - or a 24-hour decant - to drink anywhere near its potential. (Or perhaps I am a hard grader). Tasty notes of blackberry, boysenberry and cherry plus some scorched earth and loads of tannins. Needs a long nap. $650 retail at winery
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7/1/2017 - TomOfCT Likes this wine: 93 Points
Robust and strong flavors. Perhaps a bit heavier on alcohol still than I'd hope. A very good wine nevertheless.
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7/1/2017 - jswine15 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Very subtle and smooth but still understated. Will benefit from a lot more aging, but it was a great drink now. Wonderful nose, with dark fruit on the palate with a subtle smokiness to it and a very long finish.
Delicious
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10/9/2016 - TomOfCT Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow. Still early...but it was clear how this will develop. Rich and powerful - without excessive tanins.
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9/21/2016 - globalflyer wrote: 98 Points
Great wine but needs a few years. Opened fairly well for such a young wine over a couple of hours. Blackberry, tar and campfire on the nose. Rich with young velvet texture ready to evolve over the next 20 years. Way above my pay scale at $2200 in the restaurant.
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9/5/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Intensity, purity, power and elegance are all wrapped up with waves of sweet, lush, polished, dark boysenberries that remain with you for close to 50 seconds. Give this at least a decade to develop and you'll be amply rewarded for your patience with additional levels of complexity and silkier textures.
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7/2/2016 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Decanted 1.5 hrs
Beautiful dark purple
Wow. What a killer wine. Nice blackberry sugar plum, cacao, coffee, tobacco, bacon fat hint of dill. Mouth feel is pure velvet. Chocolate, black cherry, coffee rubbed meat, really well put together wine. Wonderful nose followed up by great flavors. Tannins are strong. Tons of transitions. Acid medium, weight medium. This looks like it will be something special. This thing is great and going to be amazing in 8-10 years and more of course. 98+
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6/22/2016 - bacchuszuo Likes this wine: 99 Points
Poured and compared with 2011 in Harlan thanks to the generosity of Don. The wine is huge, round, wholesome, tightly knit with dense and focused flavours, yet completely weightless on my palate, as if a very intense dream that I woke up from.....this is beyond elegance in my book, almost zen-like. Never had a wine this big yet this light. Can't wait to see where it heads later
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3/22/2016 - Goldypal wrote:
Moved to Toronto
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2/19/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 96 Points
At the Oakville tasting during PNV week, great event hosted at Far Niente (best food of all the tastings...). Nice that they are pouring a wine like this a this tasting.
Beautiful purple/crimson color. Ripe dark fruit profile,, plums black currant, anise, coffee and vanilla. Some smoke/charcoal, light oak on back palate. Smooth, mouth coating texture. Moderate acidity and tannins.
This will be a classic, even by Harlan standards. An amazing wine from an exceptional vintage. probably starts to hit stride around 2020...my kids will be enjoying this wine in 30 years...96++
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12/23/2015 - Plasmatini Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of the best wines we've had. A crowd pleaser, even Jim thought it was great.
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10/23/2015 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 96 Points
2015 New York Wine Experience Trip; 10/19/2015-10/27/2015 (New York City, NY): This opaque crimson, massively extracted wine offers aromas and flavors of ripe black currants, plum, dark chocolate, espresso, anise and vanilla bean. Full-bodied and with low acidity, it has a silky mouth texture despite its substantial fine-grained tannins. The oak and alcohol are beautifully integrated and the mid-palate is dense. Very long and smooth on the finish, there is no doubt about the classic quality of this hedonistic Cabernet. As good as this is now, it should get even better with cellaring. Drink 2020-2035.
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10/23/2015 - cos65 Likes this wine:
fairly dark purple. Ripe smoky cassis nose. Rich creamy berry fruit, but maintaining just enough elegance to keep this in great balance and very, very nice.
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9/22/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Deep, dark ruby with blue, purple accents in color. Notes of smoke, vanilla, boysenberry, blackberry, cassis and campfire embers create the aromatics. On the palate, the wine is powerful, concentrated, lush, fat and sweet, it coats your palate with a deep purple tint. With silky, velvet textures and ample weight and density in the mouth, the spicy, chocolate covered fruits linger for at least 60 seconds. Perhaps I like the 2013 Harlan just a bit more, but my guess is, I could change my mind on that in the future. I just hope I get the chance to compare those two wines back to back some day.
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4/15/2014 - Papies wrote:
Napa Valley Tour; 4/11/2014-4/15/2014 (French Laundry,Meadowood,Colgin,Araujo,Harlan....): Tasted at the estate. Barrel sample of the final blend, blended about a month ago.
Impressively approachable wine, with a good ripe core, juicy and balanced. shy nose as expected and light on the oak. This has another year or so in oak, but we wonder if it really needs it. Very good and in no way overdone or overripe
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