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Harlan Estate 2015

Harlan Estate, Napa Valley, United States

Harlan Estate
Napa Valley United States
  • 100
    Points
  • The 29 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 40 Pros of
    41 recommend
    this wine
605 100
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    3

  • Producer ranking ?

    2

  • Decanting time

    3h

  • When to drink

    from 2020

  • Food Pairing

    roasted lamb

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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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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Dark purple colour with violet hue and black core. Rich nose with intense blackcurrants, blackcurrant jelly, distinct toasting and vanilla. On the palate rich with sweet fruit, ripe tannins. Very good length. 

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  • 95p

Warmish year, mid drought.
Mid shaded crimson. Lovely fresh nose. Really round and sumptuous. There’s a bit of sweet dark chocolate on the end but the zest and energy on the nose goes a long way towards mitigating that. Some freshness on the end too. Still some way to go but very promising. Fair whack of ripe tannin.

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  • 94p

 Incredible aromas of fresh flowers, such as roses and violets, and blackcurrants. Full body and defined levels of fruit and tannins too. Love the brightness and texture. An excellent finish. Production was down by a third because of bad berry set. Try in 2021.

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  • 99p

The perfectly ripe, dense, black and blue fruits are the first thing you notice. But as you peer further into the caliginous wine, you find this cool, refreshing note combining dark red berries accompanied by incense, smoke, forest leaf and a light, background hint mint. On the palate, the wine balances power, restraint, elegance and purity. Complicated and concentrated, the wine is fleshy, rich, silky, mouth-filling and vibrant. The finish sits with you for close to one full minute. My instinct suggests 12-15 years in the cellar will complete the experience.

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  • 99p

Deep, ruby red colour. Extremely refined nose is intense and charms with multilayered aromas from which roasted coffee, mocha, spices and ripe blackcurrants are the most pronounced. The full-bodied and delicately dense palate is so polished, smooth and silky with beautifully harmonious finish that it leaves me speechless. There is loads of everything but all so well integrated that nothing stands out alone. A wine with perfect equilibrium. Pure pleasure. Amazing young icon wine that drinks perfectly today, but will evolve and show loads more after 5, 10, 15, 20 years cellaring! If enjoyed today, decant for 6 hours and serve at 18°C with people who have asked you numerous times how does the perfect wine taste like. JL 99p (12/2020)

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  • 99p

This 2015 vintage's Harlan Estate leads with notes of red and black plum, vanilla, dried herbs and pencil shavings; the prelude to a supple, open-knit palate with a good core of juicy fruit and tangy acids. There is a touch of oak tannin which will need some time to integrate further.

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  • 98p

The 2015 Harlan Estate has developed into an arrestingly beautiful wine. Racy and sumptuous, the 2015 is already quite showy, with tons of dark cherry, plum, mocha, espresso, licorice, spice and tobacco character. Today, the 2015 comes across as a bit brooding and hard to read, although some of the rougher edges in the tannins I saw last year have softened. Even so, I would prefer to cellar 2015 for at least a few years. There is so much to look forward to.

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  • 97p

The 2015 Harlan Estate is a beast of a wine that shows the sexy, opulent style of the vintage married to the classic structure and depth of this estate. A downright smorgasbord of blackcurrants, blackberries, crushed rocks, graphite, smoky camphor, cured meats, and dried tobacco aromas all emerge from the glass, and it shows the deep, concentrated style of the vintage yet still has awesome complexity and nuances. Deep, powerful, and structured, yet opulent and incredibly sexy on the palate, it reminds me of the 2002. A brilliant wine from this estate, it's already approachable given its wealth of fruit yet has the tannic backbone and density to keep for 3-4 decades or more.

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  • 100p
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Information

Origin

Oakville, Napa Valley
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