In 1877, Illario and Leopoldo Ruffino laid the foundations of their dream to make Italian wines from the heart of Tuscany. Medium Ruby red color with aromas of dark berry fruit and earthy spice, blend of 80% Sangiovese with rest Merlot and Cab Sauv. On the palate flavors of black cherry and plum with tobacco, pepper and earthy cedar notes. Full-bodied, well balanced soft drying tannins on a smooth medium+ finish. Grab some Italian food and enjoy the great value wine. Consistent quality, a Fav!! — 9 months ago
Capsicum, peppercorns, and cedar. Silky red fruits. A blind taster’s dream Chinon. Always good, but a stunning value in great vintages. Happy to have half a case of this. — 4 years ago
Juicy delicious relatively complex red with almost no tannin — 4 years ago
Anniversary bottles. Wedding year vintage drank side by side with ,2016. Great dried fruit, leather, tobacco, black cherry. Dry but not tannic. Well rounded. Very nice. — 3 months ago
A most classic of vintages for the wine. A dream glass for a lover of complex Rhône wines — a year ago
Today was not a day I will soon forget. Getting to walk through Harlan Estate with the legendary Don Weaver is truly a highlight of my career (and life!). A kinder and more hospitable man does not exist, I’m sure of it.
To top off Don’s hospitality was having the 2017 and 2020 Vintages side-by-side. In a word: breathtaking. Both vintages are very emotional due to tremendous pressures felt from fires, the pandemic, and other factors. You can almost taste that tension in the wine. But the Masterful wine growers and wine makers at Harlan Estate were able to find harmony and balance with some help from Mother Nature with both vintages.
The 2017, having had some time in the bottle expresses more floral and aromatic notes of leather and asphalt. The pallet it is expressive, structured, and broad shouldered with herbaceous bay leaf and dark cherry flavors that find their way into parts of your pallet reserved just for things that taste so good you get chills. Undoubtedly a wine that will age gracefully over time.
The 2020, by contrast, was tasted out of the barrel. It already shows a tannin profile that is a hallmark of Harlan Estate; I can’t wait to drink it once it’s been in bottle for a few years; drink it to remember 2020, drink it to forget 2020? Either way, it will be representative of the special place that is Harlan Estate.
Grateful, grateful, grateful. — 3 years ago
Steve & Paula Black pursued a dream in 2003 and purchased a 110-acre vineyard located in the Red Hills of Dundee creating The Four Graces, named after their four daughters. Medium Ruby with surprisingly complex aromas of red fruits, herb and spice. On the palate cherry and raspberry flavors with tea and espresso notes adding a bit of pepper spice. Well balanced acidity with fine tannins, medium(+) length, ending with earthy notes. Nice value! — 5 months ago
Had this in Rome at VALENTYNE piano bar May 2023 — a year ago
This is a wine lovers dream… It is very old, it is hedonistic, it is rare and simply put, a beautiful wine. The bottle was properly decanted and aerated for a couple of hours. The color is bright gold; initially, the nose is intense with an acrylic paint scent dominating. However the nose evolves into intense sexy notes of bees wax, honey, butter scotch, and mead wine that are just captivating; can keep smelling for hours on end. On the pallet it is more beautiful, if that is even possible, with preserved apricot, creme brûlée and an orange marmalade like acidity. It is very round, rich, sweet but never overdone. It flows on the pallet like the sweetest memory… And you just don’t want it to fade. — 4 years ago
Holly Zahn
Thought it might be too dry but it's not at all. Nice balance, light easy to drink. Will buy again! — 2 months ago