Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

A close friend of mine invited me over to share a special bottle of this 1994 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. How excited I was to be able to share such a special wine and that he would invite me to share it with him. This is a Bordeaux blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot.

On the nose even for its age distinct fruit of black cherry, blackberry, black plum, cassis, then tertiary notes of leather, licorice and earth.

On the palate again is good dark fruit for its age of black cherry, blackberry, black currant and then tertiary notes of licorice, leather, cedar, minerality and dark earth.

This wine is full bodied with a smooth velvety mouthfeel with surprisingly medium + acidity and still good medium to medium + smooth fine tannins which leaves you with a beautiful long black fruit mineral earthy finish. What a wonderful experience, a wine I never thought I would have a chance to experience and at the end of the evening this friend said we were going ro have to do this again with another one of his special wines. Oh boy what could this one be on our next meeting. Have a great week moving into the new year and please stay safe and healthy. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Quite toasted fruit. Deep blackcurrant and hints of violet. Rather pretty. Still has balance. Yum

Wanted to hate it. This is a can’t miss.

Soft and elegant no way this is 2011. Velvety and sandy. Blueberry and cherry. Red fruit dancing on your tongue. A beautiful experience.

What is Napa is about. Well balanced and complex.

Red fruits jump out with black fruits more restrained. Liquid milk chocolate on the palate with a touch of eucalyptus, and dried field herbs. A more minimal influence of toasted oak is well integrated and not dominate. A layer of volcanic dust for tannin shows its mountainous pedigree. This is really heaven. Complete and easy.

Another stunning wine from Harlan and to my palate the best since their fantastic 2010.

@Delectable Wine Enough with the manual corrections - I’ve had close to 0% correctly identified wines recently.
This app has taken a serious turn for the worse lately and improving it ASAP should be your top priority before losing any hardcore fans/users still left.

NY wine spectator event

Harlan Estate is secluded high up in the hills of Oakville. Protected by the tall pine forest to west and overlooking the valley to the east. Really seems to tower above all: To Kalon, Beckstoffer, Opus, Martha’s Vineyard, they are all visible from the grounds at the estate. The air is cooler up here, the soil has great drainage, the vines are old and are dry farmed (truly dry farmed). They are probably one of a handful of vineyards in Napa that can get away with doing it effectively due the natural factors surrounding the vineyad: higher altitude means cooler temperatures in summer, the mountains to the west provide early shade during rippening season (higher diurnal range), yet Napa has a warm continental climate and the berries still get plenty of sunshine. About 30 acres of planted vines with annual production of 2,500 cases, give or take (that is a very small production). Harlan crafts one thing: a Bordeaux style red blend. Aged in mostly French oak for two years and another 18 months in bottle before release. The wine displays true vintage variation from a place that’s never had a “bad vintage.” Tasted 2014, 2015, 2019, and 2023 (from barrel). The wine is opulent yet elegant, refined, it has levels of complexity and layer over layer of flavor. It has balance, intensity, length and a long finish. It’s a special occasion wine or the wine you open to make an occasion special. It’s the kind of wine you’ll remember for it captures a sense of time and place in liquid memory.

Obvious that this will be an amazing wine although still tightly wound at this age.