Community Tasting Note

Friday, March 11, 2022 - 6 Vintages of Harlan (1995-2018): Some conclusions: 1) The highlight in all Harlan wines and what sets the wine apart from many other high-end Napa wines is the elegance and absolute weightless texture and feel, with the finest tannins and an incredible balance. This became obvious in all vintages. 2) What is a big advantage in young wines, might become a disadvantage with a lot of age. The question I always ask myself with this wine (similar to some right bank Merlots in Bordeaux): is there is enough structure and tension to age gracefully for 30, 40 years? I'm not convinced and the data point added in this tasting (1995, 2005) didn't show as much structure as I hope to have at that age in my Cabs. 3) Gun to my head, I say the ideal drinking window for Harlan is rather 5 to 15 years after the vintage and not 20-40 years. 4) The 2018 vintage is spectacular with an incredibly complex profile but will need a few years to flesh out.

TN: Very expressive, seductive nose displaying ripe, luxurious black cherries, blackberries, with nuances of fine herbs, tobacco and wet slate,, all getting more prominent by the minute, nicely building a counterpoint to the bold fruit which at first dominates and is a bit too much for me. But with time, this become so balanced, offering a complete 360 degree experience. On the palate this is quite intense, hitting you with waves of bold, ripe blackberries, black currant, dark cherries on the attack, before turning the page to reveal an unbelievable lightness and elegance. Waves of fine, light red fruit, a beautiful floralilty, with additional layers of fresh herbs and an intense minerality backbone. The complexity and precision are off the charts. Long, intense and with a wall of ultra-fine tannins, a weightless feel, a nicely creamy texture, very well integrated, prefect acidity. Calm, round and well balanced but only with some air. At first this showed a touch too bold for my taste. This was the best wine tonight, for me and the group (and winemaker Cory Empting's favorite vintage in his tenure together with the 2021). 97+ pts, in the best moments 98/99 pts. The vintage, however, will need time to flesh out (5 to 10 years at least) and with all that substance should age well.

Decanting: This was best after 20-30 minutes of sitting in the glass. I would give it a good hour or two in the decanter.

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Comment posted by JEP007:

3/11/2022 8:31:00 AM - Sounds like one awesome evening you had. Thank you for the notes, did Cory offer intel on the 2019s or is it a little too early for such?
Comment posted by Cailles:

3/11/2022 12:06:00 PM - We didn‘t discuss the 2019. A few words were said about the 2020 (no smoke taint as Harlan harvest rather early) and 2021 (will probably be the best vintage ever for Cory).
Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

5/18/2022 10:11:00 AM - Nice note (as always)....I must respectfully disagree with you assessment regarding the drinking window because I have had a totally different experience with Harlan. I have not had the 1995 (although I do own a bottle); however, I have had the 1996 twice, and both times I was blown away....they were the two best bottles of wine I have tasted to date. I also had the 2001 (I believe last year), and it was fantastic, but still needed more time to peak (at least for my palate...and in that regard, I will say that while I love tertiary notes in a wine, fruit is more important for my palate). I will admit, I also had the 2012 within the last year, and that was drinking remarkably well, but I did not get any indication I should be in a hurry to drink them. Also, and I realize it is personal preference, but I think the 2018 will surpass them all. Guess time will tell! Cheers!
Comment posted by Cailles:

5/19/2022 5:21:00 AM - Thanks for your comment! You certainly have more experience with Harlan than I do (I've had 1x94, 2x95, 1x96, these were always part of a tasting with a few more vintages and hence I was never able to follow the respective wines over, 2, 3 or more hours which probably would have been necessary). Given your experience and the high scores out there for these vintages, I maybe had just bad luck so far. I hope I get the chance in future tastings to correct the impression I have so far :)
Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

5/19/2022 7:45:00 AM - Hopefully we can get together one day in the not too distant future and taste together! You never know.....I suppose it is possible that our palates differ, but based on most of your notes, I don't think that is the case. It however could be that I typically find that Harlan wines, in general, have an ethereal mouthfeel that always elevates their wines for me. My enchantment with the 96 was that aside from having the sexiest mouthfeel I ever experienced, it also had impeccable balance in terms of acid and tannins, and more importantly (at least for me) between fruit and tertiary goodness (at least for my palate). I doubt I have tasted Harlan more than you. I have only drank four of my own bottles and tasted at the winery once, and had a bottle someone else provided once. I do own a few, but I feel they are too expensive to experiment with! I don't think I could have ever brought myself to open an 18! Although, given the experiment you guys conducted, I would have likely given in (what can I say....I am weak!) Anyway.....hoping you and I, and a few other CTs I have met online can get together for a wine fest! Cheers! BTW.....always love reading your notes! Wish I had you gift for writing!
Comment posted by Cailles:

5/19/2022 8:11:00 AM - I'm in the States regurarly, but never to Minnesota so far. But you never know, it would be certainly great to meet fellow wine lovers for a great meal and of course a few nice bottles... Re Harlan: I agree with you that texture/mouthfeel of Harlan are the absolute highlight. My problem with the bottles I had, was more that they seemed a bit tired. But as I said, I've tasted these in larger groups and on a schedule, maybe they would have needed more time to fill out and gain tension. I always voice strong opinions, which are certainly true for me at that point in time but by no means are they very informed all the time (I don't always have the extensive enough reference system, to be 100% confident that the opinions voiced would universally hold up).