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  1. David Harper

    David Harper

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    aSimpleGuy

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Community Tasting Notes (139) Avg Score: 97.2 points

  • From a magnum purchased from the mailing list on release and cellared perfectly since. Double-decanted for 4 hours and best after an hour in the glass. The texture is so ethereal and silky-fine with a flavor profile reminiscent of a top Pauillac with subdued blackberry fruit and a distinct lead pencil note. There is also a touch of eucalyptus on the finish which shows smooth and refined tannins and a building complexity on the tongue. Very impressive and still with many years of life at least in magnum form. This was a big wine in its youth but its aged gracefully helped by less alcohol (14%) than future vintages. An absolutely beautiful bottle of wine.

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  • Opened by an old friend along with 94 Haut Brion, 94 Bryant Family, and 94 Dominus. Won the night. Everything you could hope for in a mature California wine. The others were exceptional as well. My wife said “ why don’t we have some of these?” An expensive request, but if you are going big go here. I saved the bottle for my cellar which I rarely do.

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  • Did a vertical tasting of 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2004. This was definitely WOTN - still young, decanting needed. Earthy, funky, plum, dark berries, long lasting. Still many years strong!

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  • Open that bottle - Dan chooses 1994 Harlan (My house): Splash decant and back into the bottle to be served a few hours later. Drank about 1/3rd of the bottle over 2 hours. This had a Harlan profile, with even more structure and less fruit-forward than later vintages. I can see how they changed stylistically to slightly more California. There is an intensity to the nose and palate, and it is very expressive. I have this qualitatively the same as 1996 Harlan (my benchmark), but for different reasons. The tertiary qualities of this wine are extraordinary, and enough fruit to back it up, but it it doesn't gush fruit like later vintages seem to.

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  • Open THAT Bottle - Special Edition (Joe's Bistro): Everyone who knows me knows I am a Harlan whore......simply the best for my palate! My previous benchmark wine was the 1996 Harlan, but this 1994 supplanted that! Not by a lot (but it is hard to improve on perfection!).

    OK....so when one member of our party said he was planning on opening a 1994 Harlan, I was like Pavlov's dog, just automatically started to salivate! I was extremely excited because (1) I had never had one and (2) my niece's birth year is 1994 and consequently I have had lots of 1994 wines from California, and have been impressed by all of them! My last 1996 Harlan seemed like it had lost a step, and I was slightly worried this would be even further behind. However, this wine proved there are still great bottles out there, so I am now chalking my 96 Harlan to bottle variation!

    OK....the nuts and bolts! Nose was very perfumed (think Margaux) with purple flowers, red and dark fruit, sweet tobacco leaf and new leather with a tinge of spice. Palate was awesome with a typical Harlan silky mouthfeel, and exuding pure elegance on the tongue with dark fruit, think creme de cassis, intertwined with juicy plum, some earthy notes, some old leather and lots of sweet tobacco. Finish was long and elegant and slightly creamy, which I enjoyed immensely. 98+ (my highest score for a red wine) and a new benchmark for me! Wish I had a few of these in my cellar! Thanks Dan!

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Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.

Decanter

JancisRobinson.com

JamesSuckling.com

The World of Fine Wine

Vinous

  • By Antonio Galloni
    Vinous Table: Charity Dinner to Benefit the Frankie Lemmon School (March 2014), (See more on Vinous...)

    (Harlan Harlan Estate (magnum) Napa Valley) Login and sign up and see review text.

Vintage Tastings

JancisRobinson.com

Vinous

  • By Stephen Tanzer
    May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78, (See more on Vinous...)

    (Harlan Estate Red Wine Napa Valley) Login and sign up and see review text.

RJonWine.com

  • By Richard Jennings
    9/9/2012, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 96 points

    (Harlan Estate) Nearly opaque red violet color; lifted, ripe black currant, sweet tobacco, tarragon nose; tasty, ripe black fruit, black currant, mineral, tart black fruit, tarragon, tobacco palate; long finish

Rockss and Fruit

  • By Lyle Fass
    9/19/2005, (See more on Rockss and Fruit...)

    (Harlan Estate) This had a decent nose of blueberries, smoke and toasty oak. Hot . . .hot . ..hot on the palate with syrupy fruit and a short finish. This bottle was impeccably stored and never moved since release. Really not good.

RJonWine.com

  • By Richard Jennings
    5/25/2003, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 93 points

    (Harlan Estate) 1994 Cali Cabs Blindtasted (Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Bryant, Araujo, Abreu, Shafer HS) (Skirball Center, Los Angeles, California): Reticent berry nose; concentrated, cassis, strawberry, kirsch palate with firm, sweet tannins; medium-plus finish

NOTE: Some content is property of Decanter and JancisRobinson.com and JamesSuckling.com and The World of Fine Wine and Vinous and Vintage Tastings and RJonWine.com and Rockss and Fruit.

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