Ratings & Tasting Notes:
100 points Decanter
Review Date: 12/2022
Tasted with winemaker Cory Empting and director of winegrowing Bob Levy at Harlan Estate. Fresh and approachable, with the elegance and structural integrity to last four or five decades, possibly longer. On the nose, beautiful upfront savouriness reveals cassis notes, cigar box and black olive followed by ripe, fresh black and blue fruit. Mesmerizing depth of flavours, with beautiful creamy black and red berries and a deep vein of earthy minerality. Tannins are angular with impressive grip, while acids are firm and refreshing. The finish is offers nuanced black currants, dark chocolate, enticing tobacco and cedar. (JC)
100 points Jeb Dunnuck
Review Date: 02/2023
Matching the perfect 2018, the 2019 Harlan Estate is deeper and richer than the Maiden and has an incredibly pure, layered perfume of ripe currants, truffle, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and gravelly earth. This carries to a full-bodied red with building yet fine tannins, incredible purity of fruit, and flawless balance. Reminding me of a First Growth from Bordeaux given its acidity and tannin balance, as well as just overall sense of class, give bottles 7-8 years and enjoy over the following 30+ years.
100 points James Suckling
Review Date: 04/2022
A wine with an endless finish that is tension-driven, with fine tannins and an energetic acidity. Medium to full body with ultra-fine tannins. Blackcurrant character. Subtle and extremely long. Thought-provoking. Youthful. Great length. This is an abstract wine that sets a new benchmark for Napa Valley reds.
100 points Wine Advocate
Review Date: 03/2023
The head-spinning 2019 Harlan Estate is truly amazing stuff. Gentle cedar notes lead into layered dark chocolate and cassis, somehow impossibly rich yet savory. Full-bodied, concentrated and supple, this is dense, packed with flavor but seemingly weightless, with a lush, lingering finish that combines intensity with freshness to compel sip after sip. Like all truly great wines, it’s full of somehow harmonious contradictions. (JC)
100 points The Wine Independent
Review Date: 04/2023
The 2019 Harlan Estate is deep garnet-purple in color. It swans out of the glass with graceful notions of fresh blackberries and boysenberries, leading to a core of blackcurrant pastilles and licorice, followed by suggestions of spice cake, dusty soil, cinnamon stick, and Sichuan pepper. The rich, black-fruited, full-bodied palate is sparked with electric black berry and earthy accents, framed by exquisitely ripe tannins and compelling tension, finishing long and earthy. Stunning! (LPB)
99 points Vinous
Review Date: 10/2022
Tasted from barrel, the 2019 Harlan Estate is relatively soft and open-knit. Lifted aromatics and silky tannins lend a fair amount of approachability. Crushed flowers, sweet bright red berry fruit, spice and orange peel linger. The 2019 is shaping up to be a real charmer. I have to think I caught it at an especially expressive state. (AG)
Cult Wines International Notes:
Harlan Estate was founded in 1984 by real estate developer H. William Harlan with a singular, ambitious goal: to create a California “First Growth” that could rival the legendary estates of Bordeaux. Inspired by a transformative trip to Europe with Robert Mondavi in 1980, Harlan spent years searching for the perfect site, eventually acquiring 240 acres of rugged, forested hills in the western reaches of Oakville. Rising from elevations of 225 to 1,225 feet, the estate’s 40 acres of vineyards are carved out of a steep, wild landscape characterized by a complex mosaic of volcanic and sedimentary soils. This commitment to a “200-year plan” for family legacy is reflected in the winery’s slow, deliberate approach; the first commercial vintage was not released until 1996, a decade after the first vines were planted, ensuring the brand was only introduced once it had achieved a level of maturity and complexity worthy of its lofty aspirations.
The 2019 vintage arrived during a growing season that many vintners in Napa Valley described as nearly ideal, defined by a long, steady ripening period. The year began with significant winter rainfall that replenished the soil’s water reserves, followed by a relatively cool spring and summer that allowed for gradual sugar accumulation and deep phenolic development. Unlike more volatile years, 2019 avoided extreme heat spikes during the critical harvest window, permitting the estate to pick the fruit at a leisurely pace to capture maximum freshness and refined tannin structure. At Harlan, where dry farming and minimal intervention are increasingly emphasized under the leadership of Will Harlan and winemaker Cory Empting, this temperate season resulted in a wine that balances the natural opulence of the Oakville hills with a distinct sense of energy and structural poise.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.
Outstanding condition.
