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Harlan Estate 1996

Harlan Estate, Napa Valley, United States

Harlan Estate
Napa Valley United States
  • 98
    Points
  • The 535 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 13 Pros of
    13 recommend
    this wine
605 98
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    156

  • Producer ranking ?

    24

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    now to 2030

  • Food Pairing

    traditional Irish Stew

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Deep garnet with some brick in color, this is giving a spicy nose with notes of cloves, Chinese five spice and ripe plums plus hints of cherry compote and smoked game. The palate is youthful and has plenty of muscular fruit with firm, fine-grained tannins plus enlivening acid, finishing long.
Score: 97 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, RobertParker.com, November 2011

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The Story

With the founding of Harlan Estate in 1984, we embarked upon our mission of creating a “first growth” of California. The estate’s early vineyard development began with just six acres. Today our planting is essentially complete, with nearly forty acres under vine to the classic varietals: cabernet sauvignon (70%), merlot (20%), cabernet franc (8%), and petit verdot (2%). Invariably, the finished wine is predominately cabernet sauvignon, which w...

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Ruby. Blackberries, vanilla, fruit driven, rich and layered nose. Liquorice and intense nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, anise, cassis, spices, blackberries and layered, rich, dense, intense, long. 95

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  • 95p

It is fascinating to taste the 1996 Harlan Estate after the 1999. Tightly wound and almost Old World in spirit, the 1996 is compelling from the first taste. Although the 1996 doesn’t have the natural Napa Valley opulence that runs through so many other wines in this tasting, it’s balance is simply impeccable. Scents of tobacco, leather, cedar and spice add aromatic intensity. For a 21 year-old wine, the 1996 is still quite powerful. As good as the 1996 is, there is a perceptible aggressiveness in the tannins that are hardly, if ever, seen in today’s wines.

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  • 96p
Saturated ruby red, with bright highlights. Lovely nose dominated by spicy black currant, tobacco leaf, and cedar-scented notes. Showing the beginnings of bottle bouquet, with slight celery-like herbal flair, cinnamon, and spice. The entry is soft and silky. Across the palate the impression is firm, but generous in the mouth. Classic cigar box and spice complement the finish.A solid vintage, showing very well today, with good aging potential. Drinkability: now to 20+ years.
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From the release and the following years, I found the 1996 vintage to be gorgeous. It still is, but I have reduced my score a few points only because the intensity of fruit has started to fade a bit (not too much, though – it’s still a very good wine) and therefore disclosed just a hint of bitterness. There’s not too much to say about the nose, other than that it used to be more voluptuous – today it’s more mature (fine tobacco, cedar and walnuts), yet with a lush and almost sweetish black currant note. However, it is the aftertaste that shows that this isn’t one of the greatest vintages of Harlan Estate – not really that it lacks concentration, it just doesn’t offer the same purity, intensity, length and texture. I wouldn’t keep my bottles more than a few more years. And why should I, when it tastes so good to today … more age will not improve it.
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  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Oakville, Napa Valley

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

Glass time

1h
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