Medium dark robe, nose of steak tartare and cedar. Very complex and elegant in the mouth, great acidity and balance, licorice, dried flowers, a hint of dry port. Finishes on a beautiful acid note and is such a companion. Truly great bottle. You can barely tell the vintage. — 7 months 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. — 2 years ago
The 1959 Latour is a vintage that I have drunk many times. It contains a payload of irresistible and quite precocious red fruit on the nose with blood orange, cedar and a touch of thyme, beautifully defined. The palate has exquisite balance, poised yet powerful, with a multi-dimensional, profound finish that is one of the smoothest-textured you will find on any Latour vintage. Absolutely divine. Tasted at Arbor restaurant in Hong Kong. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2024)
— a month ago
Splurge Sunday evening! I truly was going to wait until WE vintage chart signaled ready to drink.
Second bottle of this and it is exceedingly more developed and yummy! NO regrets!
This is full of rich flavor...apple butter, pears, brioche, apple orchard, vanilla pudding, jasmine
and graphite! 😁🍅🥐🍐 — 3 years ago
A truly great Cab. So much ripe dark cherry plus menthol cocoa violets smooth oak notes. The tannins are really soft giving a smooth mouth feel. The color is still vibrant and the wine shows no real signs of decline. The great question is whether or not it's going to get any better. I like it where it is. — 2 months ago
This is my third and youngest encounter with this elusive Y, and as always it is tastes like the epitome of hedonism. I had to take a moment alone with the wine just to acknowledge that, those who truly love wine, will know exactly what I’m talking about. The predominant flavours on this wine are orange marmalade, orange peel, and fresh tangerine… All working in unison on the palate, no single element ever outshining another. Creating harmony. — 8 months ago
Josh Morgenthau
Transparent, singing. Ripe but tense. Truly top tier fruit. — a month ago