Napa Valley Proprietary Red Blend

The nose shows beautiful fruits of; black, raspberries, black cherries, dark, cherries, raspberries, poached, strawberries, and blueberries. Olive, dark melted chocolate to pudding, black licorice to anise, bold, baking, spices, cigar, leather, cedar limestone, moist herbs, and baking powder.

What gorgeous, palate fruits. Perfectly ripe, dark, cherries, blackberries black, raspberries, baked, strawberries, and both plums, sweet, soft tarriness, black licorice very, soft leather & tobacco, dark spice with palate heat, perfumed flowers that are dark, red and framed in violets, perfect rainfall acidity with an elegant, well, balanced, smartly polished, medium structure with a long finish that lands on clays spice and soils.

If there is one thing I learned tasting 6 Harlan’s is Bob Levy is one of the very best, if not thee best at managing Cabernet/Bordeaux blend tannins.

Tasting with Winemaker- Bob Levy & Managing Director-Don Weaver.

Perhaps, the best 2007 Napa Cabernet I’ve had or can remember. From the first sip, it was a shut the front door moment.

The nose showed; dark cassis, blackberries, black, raspberries, dark cherries, and both plums. Dark chocolate to pudding, flowers that were dark, red, blue, wrapped in violets, caramel, softly, layered baking, spices, soft, cedar, leather, tobacco with ash, dark, cola and a circling sense of baking powder.

The palate showed me just how beautiful Cabernet fruits can be. A true example of perfectly ripe fruit, picked at exactly the right time. Beautiful, gorgeous blackberries, black, raspberries, dark cherries and black plums. An excellent barrel toast that created perfectly soft and layered baking spices, clays, wood shavings, leather cigar box with ash, perfect tannins that are M+ and sticky, soft, dry herbs, hints of mint, steep tea, withering, red blue florals w/violets, perfect acidity, excellently, knitted, softly structured, tension, balance for days and an amazing finish that goes on endlessly.

If there is one thing I learned tasting 6 Harlan’s is Bob Levy is one of the very best, if not thee best at managing Cabernet/Bordeaux blend tannins.

Tasting with Winemaker- Bob Levy & Managing Director-Don Weaver.

Beautiful fruits on the nose. Blackberries, dark cherries, plum, dark core of black currants, soft tarriness, mid berry cola, baking soda, gently, layered, baking, spices, soft earthiness with dark and red flowers.

The palate shows a beautiful tenant profile with velvety and powdery tannins. Just ripe blackberries, dark, cherries, black, raspberries, and blueberries. Dark chocolate, beautiful spices with depth and palate heat, understated, baking, spices, dry soils, dry, crushed rocks, limestone, dark chocolate, medium dry spice box, Asian, spices, grand acidity, excellent, soft tension, great length smartly, polished, elegant finish, that goes on and on and lands on clays and spice.

If there is one thing I learned tasting 6 Harlan’s is Bob Levy is one of the very best, if not thee best at managing Cabernet/Bordeaux blend tannins.

Tasting with Winemaker-Bob Levy & Managing Director-Don Weaver.

Expressive nose of plums, blueberries, dark cherries, eucalyptus, volume, on the sweet side, superfine tannins and great length. Technically really well made. A bit expensive for my pocket

Let's go out with a bang!
Byeee 2023!

Deep purple in color with a short purple rim.

Strong fruity nose, bold and fruit forward.

Full bodied and dry on the palate, with medium acidity.

Showing blueberries, blackberries, black currants, black cherries, raisins, dried fruits, figs, dark chocolates, cedar, coffee, vanilla, earth, spices, pencil lead, eucalyptus, cola, light mint, bell pepper, herbs and peppercorn.

Long finish with round tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a gorgeous Napa Valley Bordeaux blend. Very fruity on the palate with great complexity and mouthfeel.

This 14 year old feels and drinks like a young wine. Rich and extracted. Opulent and very complex already.

Fruit forward with lots of earth and green notes. Very interesting stuff. Feels like a blend of Napa Cabernet and Left Bank bordeaux.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after an hour of air time, when tannins come in and show more structure. After 2 hours of airtime the tannins become very grippy.

I tried the 2001 vintage a few years ago, and it was so much better. A good quality wine that will continue to age nicely in the next 20+ years.

Robert Parker 97 points. Wine Spectator 96 points.

A great wine to share with friends and talk about.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$1000.

Nice fruit but a bit mirky

Tasted blind. Dark, dark black scarlet color. Opaque times 2. Notes of black cherry, licorice, herbs and violets. Some menthol too. Big and strong in the mouth. Monolithic and still a bit harsh despite being open all day. Not as big a fan of this as others, at least at this point in its evolution.

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.

Vibrant, carefree nose of wild blueberries, black raspberries, crushed black currants and boysenberries with lovely floral nuances of candied violets and rose hips plus touches of cedar and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, this incredibly light on its feet, with amazing intensity and energy, framed by very finely grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and mineral-laced.

An emotional vintage for Napa Valley. But you’d never know when drinking this wine. Elegant and clean, balanced acidity with terroir that’s representative of the special place where it’s produced. Truly one of the worlds great wines; an absolute privilege to taste it alongside the 2016 vintage.