Red currant, lead pencil, sweet oiled leather and deeply ripe black fruit on the nose. Dark, bold, velvety wine with subdued tannins and layers of fruit with a hint of vanilla & oak. Drank straight from the bottle without decanting - incredible wine that likely could go for a number of years. Really impressive wine at this time - anything under the Harlan umbrella should be sought out. Quite impressive with a Hawaiian NY strip.
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It's Friday, January 3, and I can still taste this wine. I have thought about this wine for the last 3 days ... and probably will for the rest of time. I have no option but to raise its score.
To put it simply, this was the most exquisite wine that we drank in 2019 and we have been lucky enough to have had some great wines. It was bold, expressive, multi-layered, beautifully balanced. explosive in the mouth and with a finish that went on and on past the turning of the decade. The fruit was dark with just a hint of sweetness, and its taste was the richest I have had in a long, long time. It was darn never perfection.
This wine was kind of in a weird place, and I'm not sure if we just didn't give this one enough time to come around or maybe a little bit of bottle variation. The 07 I enjoyed a little over a year ago seemed to be a lot more fruit forward and dense, whereas this one definitely did seem to have a medium-to-full bodied black fruit density to it. It also seemed a bit vegetal. A bit of green pepper in the middle of this wine. The finish almost seemed to have a dried pipe tobacco note. Not exactly what I expected given the fruit density of the 07, but this one IS 8 vintages ahead. Judging the wine, I give this one still a very solid 92, and wondering if this one just didn't need a few hours of air to work some of its problems out.
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Very similar notes as last tasting 12 months ago. It hasn't lost anything since then, but there's no benefit from waiting any further. It is drinking very well now.
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Had at an amazing wine tasting. I have tasted Harlen a number of times and this was on a par with any of them at a fraction of the price. Drinking excellent even though I only had a small pour.
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Not as complex as the estate wine, but a well balanced, elegant wine with blackberries, black cherries, licorice, earthiness, and a hint of mint in the nose. Black cherries, currants, and plums in the flavor. Medium to long finish.
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Decanted two hours, returned to bottle and drank over another two hours. Restrained but beautiful nose. Elegant, integrated palate with delicious fruit, somewhat restrained but the concentration amplified over the course of two hours. I would say this is drinking perfectly right now. Much more elegant than the 2000 I had a few months ago. Thoroughly enjoyable birthday wine.
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Dinner at S and A's house (Freeman Bay, Auckland, New Zealand): Intense, and hyper-ripe cabernet, but still very much recognisable as a Napa wine, albeit in a cult style. Volatile, in the Harlan manner, and possessing thick tannins. The wine skirts with being ungainly but is enlivened by the lifted nature of the nose and robust proportion. Exquisite cassis notes are a special feature of the nose, while the mocha flavours are quite delicious. This particular bottle showed a bit of oxidation on the finish, suggesting it would have been better 5 years ago, but it is certainly a nice example of the Harlan style in a less-intense and age-worthy package. I could see people calling this outstanding, but for me the slight feeling that this has just past its peak kept me away from scoring it in that way.
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Firing on all cylinders. Big black fruit and cedar on the nose, more sweet black fruit on the palate, finishes with present but so soft and lovely tannin. Wish I had more.
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Yowza. Haven't had a California oozemonster in quite some time. This is of that ripe, very dark, very concentrated, liqueur-like California Cab style, but it's really not all that bad because it does have a sense of proportion and restraint, perhaps from years in the cellar. Perhaps that cellaring has also tamed whatever oak this wine may have seen, because it does not come across as oaky. Not my style of wine at all, and yet it could have been far worse. Fairway with the guys.
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Impressive wine. The fruit was spectacular. The tannins were so soft, silky and integrated. Lush, delicious and chewy are some of the words that come to mind.
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Opened at Azeen's Afghani Cuisine in Pasadena, CA on 12/3/14. Drank with chicken and lamb kabobs, fried eggplant, various Afghani style dumplings and other Afghani delicacies served with yogurt sauce on the side. This bottle was almost undrinkable for the first hour after opening and then most of my party agreed it improved, but still fell short of expectations we had for a Harlan. I saved 1/3 of the bottle to see if it would benefit from another 24 hours of refrigeration. The following night, there was a very vegetably funk on the nose and it had developed a strong pickled beet taste to it which I couldn't handle. Disappointing.
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Still going strong, 15 months after my last bottle. 3hr decant prior to serving took some edge off. Showed quite well with dark stone fruit and pretty smooth tannin.
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Wonderful bouquet of rich dark fruits. Velvety, sophisticated, black, deep sweet fruit buttressed with iron and graphite. At its zenith. Some might say it is at the end of its long evolution but would guess its will drink very well for another 5-7 years. Very hedonistic.
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If I'm going to score this wine for its bouquet only, this is a 99 pt wine. The nose was muted at first, but opened up after a 2-hour decant to loads of dark chocolate, forest floor and black fruits...just wonderful scent. I couldn't stop smelling my glass at Spago's for my wife's bday dinner.
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Despite its age, still has plenty of time to go, with us drinking over two nights, and the second night being when it showed the most (though drinkable the first, likely with food). Huge nose of cocoa powder... to the point that there wasn't one person who didn't pick that up. The initial dark/semisweet chocolate coating leading to cherries and a little bourbon (so basically a dark chocolate covered cherry cordial). Tons of depth and finish, particularly once it balanced out. I could see the Bordeaux influences as I tasted.
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USA Cabernet Masterclass (Rockpool Bar and Grill Sydney): Nose: blackerry jelly lumps! Super concentrated. Toasted oak and tobacco. perhaps even a yeasty vegetal quality. Huge. Mouth: The blackberry is so concentrated that it is almost savoury and has chocolate as well, very plain chocolate (85% cocoa). Mouth puckering tannin. Tastes like a barrel sample. Medium plus alcohol and acidity. Finishes long but very hot. Too much.
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The wine shows subtle, nuanced aromatics that combine youthful and mature notes. The color is a dark ruby that is correct for the wines age. The medium/full bodied palate shows outstanding balance at the beginning with dominating tannins on the lengthy finish. If the tannins recede with additional bottle age, this has the potential to for further improvement.
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fantastic bottle of wine. Perfect drinking window. Lush fruit with some mature flavors. This is what all cali cabs should aspire too. Really lovely.....
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Dark, very smooth, nice nose - hints of cedar, good fruit without being overpowering or too strong, very concentrated. I'm not normally a Harlan fan, but I would go out of my way to have this again. Two bottles in NYC - both the same.
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Excellent. Tannin i full force after all these years, but decant, breath, Vinturi, whatever and it WILL pay rewards. Still drinking the last glass 2 hours later. Full of fruit, black but fruity and completely delightful. Wish...
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Dark opaque purple. At first, this had dark berries on the nose. As time went on, however, a very definite fig/port/prune aroma developed. ON the palate, dark fruits, some mocha, some tobacco, and a refreshing acidity that was not expected with the porty/figgy/pruny nose. Pretty good, but, at this price/pedrigree, it should be much much better (even putting aside my general lack of interest in cabernet/bordeaux blend type wines these days)
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This was served blind---Very typical in the sense of, 'yes I am Napa cabernet'. Great cassis & backberry filled palate with some secondaries. I thought it reminded me of a 2001 Napa, and was happy to see at unveil that it was a '99, a vintage that I usually got more austerity from. This was a quiet elegant fulfilling cabernet that wore its bloodline on its sleeve. Funny thing is I liked this one much better than the '01 I had at the beginning of the year. Drinking beautifully this one is.
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Drinking very well. Lots of chocolate on the palate, and a few years to go still. Let it open up for a little while. We waited about 45 minutes, and it was great.
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A weekend of fine wines in LA (Sloan,Maiden,Grange,Rousseau,Shafer HS and more) (Los Angeles): A nice nose of deep dark berries with mocha and white pepper. But the palate, man.. I could not get past the VA/Brett in the wine. It was just overwhelming my palate. If I wanted to take a bite out of a green pepper like the Iron Chef dude, i'd do it, i'd like to think it was "mint" but it was incredibly overpowering. It absolutely overwhelms the cigar, currant, dark berry, and mocha component of the wine. I'd score this FAR FAR lower if after some time it didn't blow off. Luckily it blew off a bit so i didn't hate it completely. WTF is up with Harlan. Please see my attached Sloan note.
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Opened and decanted for one hour prior to drinking. The nose was dark fruit with a hint of chocolate. The first taste emphasized the blackberry fruit on front and mid palate with a viscousness that coated the mouth. However, the finish on the back palate seemed a bit short. I believe that it still needs more time to develop the nuances that will affect the back palate. As it sat in the glass the bitter chocolate aspects of the wine came out. Overall, the wine seemed relatively young. This was the first bottle we opened and we will wait at least a year before opening another. We recorked a small amount of the wine and will retaste again this evening.
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dense purple color. smoky wine with cedar flavors. drank it with a 99 verite la muse, and i preferred the maiden. nice finish. definitely has several more years of life left. wish it had a fruitier attack like the harlan estate, but i guess at half the price you get what you pay for.
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90s California Cabs (MA): First wine of the night. Yes! This is what Cali cabs are all about. Great smoky berry nose. Thick flavors that improved as the night went on. Still obviously young.
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Stamford OL (Morton's Stamford): Wonderfully fruity and rich. Well built - like a guiness - built not poured. Slightly sweet, structured tannins. Great thick gruit. My WOTF, Group WOTF. Tied for Group WOTN.
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My first experience with a Harlan-prodouced wine. This wine wavered between an 89-pointer and a 91-pointer for me. Fairly classic Cali Cab profile in terms of color, nose, and palate, with hints of something else on the palate that I couldn't quite identify. This being my only bottle, I won't have a chance to see how this young wine evolves, but it definitely has another 5-10 years of life for those who have more bottles.
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Dinner at the Tower Club. Unfortunately, this wine was on decanted for about 20 minutes before we tasted it. However, I did not note any great evolution during our 2 hours meal. The nose was certainly the highlight with char, intense mint, and blackberry. The palate followed the nose very closely but with the addition of very strong tannins. While this wine is young, I do not believe their is enough fruit to outlast the tannins. I don't see this as a long term ager.
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2/17/2024 - edjBoca Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drank super after 60-90 minutes.....from memory
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11/9/2020 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Red currant, lead pencil, sweet oiled leather and deeply ripe black fruit on the nose. Dark, bold, velvety wine with subdued tannins and layers of fruit with a hint of vanilla & oak. Drank straight from the bottle without decanting - incredible wine that likely could go for a number of years. Really impressive wine at this time - anything under the Harlan umbrella should be sought out. Quite impressive with a Hawaiian NY strip.
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12/31/2019 - Labrador Likes this wine: 99 Points
It's Friday, January 3, and I can still taste this wine. I have thought about this wine for the last 3 days ... and probably will for the rest of time. I have no option but to raise its score.
To put it simply, this was the most exquisite wine that we drank in 2019 and we have been lucky enough to have had some great wines.
It was bold, expressive, multi-layered, beautifully balanced. explosive in the mouth and with a finish that went on and on past the turning of the decade. The fruit was dark with just a hint of sweetness, and its taste was the richest I have had in a long, long time. It was darn never perfection.
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10/20/2018 - mflesh wrote: 92 Points
This wine was kind of in a weird place, and I'm not sure if we just didn't give this one enough time to come around or maybe a little bit of bottle variation. The 07 I enjoyed a little over a year ago seemed to be a lot more fruit forward and dense, whereas this one definitely did seem to have a medium-to-full bodied black fruit density to it. It also seemed a bit vegetal. A bit of green pepper in the middle of this wine. The finish almost seemed to have a dried pipe tobacco note. Not exactly what I expected given the fruit density of the 07, but this one IS 8 vintages ahead. Judging the wine, I give this one still a very solid 92, and wondering if this one just didn't need a few hours of air to work some of its problems out.
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8/8/2018 - JJB007 Likes this wine: 94 Points
we decanted for two hours then had to wait another 2
soft yet a hint of bitter
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12/21/2017 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very similar notes as last tasting 12 months ago. It hasn't lost anything since then, but there's no benefit from waiting any further. It is drinking very well now.
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12/20/2017 - michigan dogs Likes this wine: 93 Points
Had at an amazing wine tasting. I have tasted Harlen a number of times and this was on a par with any of them at a fraction of the price. Drinking excellent even though I only had a small pour.
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7/2/2017 - DaddyNeedsPow wrote: 93 Points
Sexy. That's about all I can say.
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12/18/2016 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Not as complex as the estate wine, but a well balanced, elegant wine with blackberries, black cherries, licorice, earthiness, and a hint of mint in the nose. Black cherries, currants, and plums in the flavor. Medium to long finish.
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11/11/2016 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted two hours, returned to bottle and drank over another two hours. Restrained but beautiful nose. Elegant, integrated palate with delicious fruit, somewhat restrained but the concentration amplified over the course of two hours. I would say this is drinking perfectly right now. Much more elegant than the 2000 I had a few months ago. Thoroughly enjoyable birthday wine.
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5/14/2016 - Marc wrote: 89 Points
Dinner at S and A's house (Freeman Bay, Auckland, New Zealand): Intense, and hyper-ripe cabernet, but still very much recognisable as a Napa wine, albeit in a cult style. Volatile, in the Harlan manner, and possessing thick tannins. The wine skirts with being ungainly but is enlivened by the lifted nature of the nose and robust proportion. Exquisite cassis notes are a special feature of the nose, while the mocha flavours are quite delicious. This particular bottle showed a bit of oxidation on the finish, suggesting it would have been better 5 years ago, but it is certainly a nice example of the Harlan style in a less-intense and age-worthy package. I could see people calling this outstanding, but for me the slight feeling that this has just past its peak kept me away from scoring it in that way.
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4/16/2016 - Bluefisher Likes this wine: 95 Points
Firing on all cylinders. Big black fruit and cedar on the nose, more sweet black fruit on the palate, finishes with present but so soft and lovely tannin. Wish I had more.
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9/17/2015 - Pknut wrote:
Yowza. Haven't had a California oozemonster in quite some time. This is of that ripe, very dark, very concentrated, liqueur-like California Cab style, but it's really not all that bad because it does have a sense of proportion and restraint, perhaps from years in the cellar. Perhaps that cellaring has also tamed whatever oak this wine may have seen, because it does not come across as oaky. Not my style of wine at all, and yet it could have been far worse. Fairway with the guys.
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6/8/2015 - Fusions33 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Impressive wine. The fruit was spectacular. The tannins were so soft, silky and integrated. Lush, delicious and chewy are some of the words that come to mind.
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3/16/2015 - steveatkin wrote:
This was simply amazing and drinking quite beautifully. Fruit is still luscious with a great backbone.
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12/3/2014 - Nguyenning wrote: 87 Points
Opened at Azeen's Afghani Cuisine in Pasadena, CA on 12/3/14. Drank with chicken and lamb kabobs, fried eggplant, various Afghani style dumplings and other Afghani delicacies served with yogurt sauce on the side. This bottle was almost undrinkable for the first hour after opening and then most of my party agreed it improved, but still fell short of expectations we had for a Harlan. I saved 1/3 of the bottle to see if it would benefit from another 24 hours of refrigeration. The following night, there was a very vegetably funk on the nose and it had developed a strong pickled beet taste to it which I couldn't handle. Disappointing.
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9/7/2014 - bmartz1 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Still going strong, 15 months after my last bottle. 3hr decant prior to serving took some edge off. Showed quite well with dark stone fruit and pretty smooth tannin.
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6/8/2014 - Mithras Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful bouquet of rich dark fruits. Velvety, sophisticated, black, deep sweet fruit buttressed with iron and graphite. At its zenith. Some might say it is at the end of its long evolution but would guess its will drink very well for another 5-7 years. Very hedonistic.
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7/19/2013 - grafighter Likes this wine: 95 Points
If I'm going to score this wine for its bouquet only, this is a 99 pt wine. The nose was muted at first, but opened up after a 2-hour decant to loads of dark chocolate, forest floor and black fruits...just wonderful scent. I couldn't stop smelling my glass at Spago's for my wife's bday dinner.
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6/23/2013 - leadpencil wrote: 95 Points
Full bodied. Boysenberry, licorice, cocoa, graphite. Well balanced. No heat.
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5/27/2013 - bmartz1 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Give it 2hrs to decant, then enjoy the 30+ second finish. Surprisingly still quite a bit of heat, but that subsides after some time.
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3/17/2013 - mrmedoes Likes this wine: 93 Points
Despite its age, still has plenty of time to go, with us drinking over two nights, and the second night being when it showed the most (though drinkable the first, likely with food). Huge nose of cocoa powder... to the point that there wasn't one person who didn't pick that up. The initial dark/semisweet chocolate coating leading to cherries and a little bourbon (so basically a dark chocolate covered cherry cordial). Tons of depth and finish, particularly once it balanced out. I could see the Bordeaux influences as I tasted.
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9/19/2011 - chatters wrote:
USA Cabernet Masterclass (Rockpool Bar and Grill Sydney): Nose: blackerry jelly lumps! Super concentrated. Toasted oak and tobacco. perhaps even a yeasty vegetal quality. Huge.
Mouth: The blackberry is so concentrated that it is almost savoury and has chocolate as well, very plain chocolate (85% cocoa). Mouth puckering tannin. Tastes like a barrel sample. Medium plus alcohol and acidity. Finishes long but very hot. Too much.
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9/19/2011 - sehill wrote: 92 Points
The wine shows subtle, nuanced aromatics that combine youthful and mature notes. The color is a dark ruby that is correct for the wines age. The medium/full bodied palate shows outstanding balance at the beginning with dominating tannins on the lengthy finish. If the tannins recede with additional bottle age, this has the potential to for further improvement.
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9/19/2011 - danstrings wrote: 94 Points
A day at Harlan trying every vintage of the Maiden ever made (Harlan winery, Oakville, CA): My favorite of '95-'07 Maidens. A step up in decadent sweet oozing chocolate covered cherry. GM and winemaker loved how this was showing today. They called '99 a "B- vintage" but punching above its weight now for sure.
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7/26/2011 - bonedocnine wrote: 93 Points
fantastic bottle of wine. Perfect drinking window. Lush fruit with some mature flavors. This is what all cali cabs should aspire too. Really lovely.....
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4/13/2011 - CainFiveO wrote: 94 Points
Dark, very smooth, nice nose - hints of cedar, good fruit without being overpowering or too strong, very concentrated. I'm not normally a Harlan fan, but I would go out of my way to have this again. Two bottles in NYC - both the same.
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3/3/2011 - leadpencil wrote: 94 Points
Deep purple. Medium to full bodied. Blackberry, cassis, olive.
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2/20/2011 - sbbulldog wrote: 92 Points
Excellent. Tannin i full force after all these years, but decant, breath, Vinturi, whatever and it WILL pay rewards. Still drinking the last glass 2 hours later. Full of fruit, black but fruity and completely delightful. Wish...
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2/19/2011 - helicopterbob wrote: 95 Points
Excellent but still too young
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11/13/2010 - VoteferPedro wrote: flawed
Little fruit and joy. A bit acidic and thin. I can not detect The mustiness of TCA but suspect it is corked
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4/6/2010 - LeechDogg wrote: 92 Points
Dark, concentrated, cedar, oak, tobacco. Light fruit, still tannic.
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3/14/2010 - leadpencil wrote: 95 Points
Dark purple, full-bodied. Cassis, raspberry, licorice, pencil. Drinking well, better than 2003 Harlan Estate.
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1/24/2010 - Greg Pierce wrote:
Dark opaque purple. At first, this had dark berries on the nose. As time went on, however, a very definite fig/port/prune aroma developed. ON the palate, dark fruits, some mocha, some tobacco, and a refreshing acidity that was not expected with the porty/figgy/pruny nose. Pretty good, but, at this price/pedrigree, it should be much much better (even putting aside my general lack of interest in cabernet/bordeaux blend type wines these days)
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9/8/2009 - King Cab wrote: 93 Points
This was served blind---Very typical in the sense of, 'yes I am Napa cabernet'. Great cassis & backberry filled palate with some secondaries. I thought it reminded me of a 2001 Napa, and was happy to see at unveil that it was a '99, a vintage that I usually got more austerity from. This was a quiet elegant fulfilling cabernet that wore its bloodline on its sleeve. Funny thing is I liked this one much better than the '01 I had at the beginning of the year. Drinking beautifully this one is.
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4/12/2009 - Catnapped wrote: 92 Points
Drinking very well. Lots of chocolate on the palate, and a few years to go still. Let it open up for a little while. We waited about 45 minutes, and it was great.
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3/3/2009 - clayfu wrote: 87 Points
A weekend of fine wines in LA (Sloan,Maiden,Grange,Rousseau,Shafer HS and more) (Los Angeles): A nice nose of deep dark berries with mocha and white pepper. But the palate, man.. I could not get past the VA/Brett in the wine. It was just overwhelming my palate. If I wanted to take a bite out of a green pepper like the Iron Chef dude, i'd do it, i'd like to think it was "mint" but it was incredibly overpowering. It absolutely overwhelms the cigar, currant, dark berry, and mocha component of the wine. I'd score this FAR FAR lower if after some time it didn't blow off. Luckily it blew off a bit so i didn't hate it completely. WTF is up with Harlan. Please see my attached Sloan note.
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2/8/2009 - martuna wrote: 94 Points
Excellent wine. Inky purple. Blackberries and black currants on the nose. Smokey plum and cocoa flavors. Well balanced. Long finish.
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5/3/2008 - M&D24 wrote:
Opened and decanted for one hour prior to drinking. The nose was dark fruit with a hint of chocolate. The first taste emphasized the blackberry fruit on front and mid palate with a viscousness that coated the mouth. However, the finish on the back palate seemed a bit short. I believe that it still needs more time to develop the nuances that will affect the back palate. As it sat in the glass the bitter chocolate aspects of the wine came out. Overall, the wine seemed relatively young. This was the first bottle we opened and we will wait at least a year before opening another. We recorked a small amount of the wine and will retaste again this evening.
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2/24/2008 - sparkymass wrote: 93 Points
Intense color, heavy on the eucalyptus, coccoa and raspberry. Good acidity but can wait another couple of years
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11/25/2007 - swazi wrote: 93 Points
dense purple color. smoky wine with cedar flavors. drank it with a 99 verite la muse, and i preferred the maiden. nice finish.
definitely has several more years of life left. wish it had a fruitier attack like the harlan estate, but i guess at half the price you get what you pay for.
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3/31/2007 - LeechDogg wrote: 94 Points
Great '99 showing. Complex cali cab full of dark fruit and smoke.
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1/30/2007 - RomanKJ wrote: 93 Points
90s California Cabs (MA): First wine of the night. Yes! This is what Cali cabs are all about. Great smoky berry nose. Thick flavors that improved as the night went on. Still obviously young.
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12/11/2006 - phenricsson wrote: 95 Points
Very good wine but still with a bit of a hard edge. Will still get better. Imroved after 3 hours in decanter.
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6/8/2006 - NeuroDoc wrote: 93 Points
Dark, deep berry, rich fruit, smoke, cocoa and minerals. Very Bordeaux like, with rich multilayers that intensified through the evening.
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4/1/2006 - trankin wrote: 94 Points
Stamford OL (Morton's Stamford): Wonderfully fruity and rich. Well built - like a guiness - built not poured. Slightly sweet, structured tannins. Great thick gruit. My WOTF, Group WOTF. Tied for Group WOTN.
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3/11/2006 - Mike V wrote: 93 Points
Soo much better than 1 year ago
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12/25/2004 - MarkC wrote: 89 Points
My first experience with a Harlan-prodouced wine. This wine wavered between an 89-pointer and a 91-pointer for me. Fairly classic Cali Cab profile in terms of color, nose, and palate, with hints of something else on the palate that I couldn't quite identify. This being my only bottle, I won't have a chance to see how this young wine evolves, but it definitely has another 5-10 years of life for those who have more bottles.
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2/21/2004 - Jason wrote: 89 Points
Dinner at the Tower Club. Unfortunately, this wine was on decanted for about 20 minutes before we tasted it. However, I did not note any great evolution during our 2 hours meal. The nose was certainly the highlight with char, intense mint, and blackberry. The palate followed the nose very closely but with the addition of very strong tannins. While this wine is young, I do not believe their is enough fruit to outlast the tannins. I don't see this as a long term ager.
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