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  • Country ranking ?

    328
  • Producer ranking ?

    37
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040

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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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Wine Information

The 2003 season overall was moderate in length (approximately 192 days), marked by a wetter- than-normal winter and rainfall extending into the end of May. a warm summer brought numerous days into the high 90°s and a couple of short-term heat spells in mid-september, culminating in a somewhat extended harvest period from september 17 to October 18. Cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc yielded roughly 1.8 tons per acre on average; the merlot a...

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Tasting note

color

Deep, Ruby red and Healthy

ending

Long, Gentle and Pure

nose

Youthful, Complex and Opulent

recommend

Yes

taste

Balanced, Well-Integrated, Developing, Full-bodied, Firm, Harmonious and Rich

Verdict

Well-rounded and Impressive

Written Notes

Good deep ruby-red. Blackcurrant, minerals, graphite, mocha and leather on the nose. Sweet and tightly wound, with a violet topnote and terrific depth of flavor. This powerfully structured wine has plenty of meat on its bones. The tannins are huge but refined. This must be among the three or four longest wines of the vintage, with the violet quality persisting on the aftertaste. (I retasted the 2002 on this occasion, and this elixir of a wine continues to be one of the greatest California cabernets of my experience, with a knockout nose of black raspberry, minerals, tobacco and crushed stone; a superconcentrated essence of cabernet on the palate; and an almost confectionery finish of incredible persistence. My latest sample merited a solid 98.)

  • 95p

Opaque, garnet rim. Massive with huge fruit, perfumed and alcoholic nose. Medium acidity, massive dry tannins, BIG on all accounts. Alcoholic palate and finish, and I nailed it. Not many wines out there as vulgar as this one. 90

  • 90p
Deep, dark red in appearance. Complex nose offers high notes of black fruits, licorice, graphite, chocolate, espresso over truffle and earth, and the distinctive “forest floor” elements. Good composition, detail, concentration, and depth. Nice length, persistence and purity in the finish, but still relatively chunky in its youth. Look for this vintage to provide increasing finesse and pleasure over time. Wait 5 years and then drink for 10-15 years.
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Information

Origin

Oakville, Napa Valley

Inside Information

98 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  One of the most backward yet promising wines of the vintage is the 2003 Harlan Estate. Its dense opaque plum/purple color is accompanied by a sumptuous bouquet of graphite, camphor, creme de cassis, smoky barbecue wood and a hint of forest floor. Similar flavors hit the mouth with full-bodied splendor, a multidimensional mouthfeel and texture, and the sensational finish lasts more than 45 seconds. Some tannins are still present, and this wine seems much younger than expected at ten years of age, so give it 4-5 more years of bottle age and consume it over the following 20-25 years. (98+)   (6/ 2013)

98 points Wine Enthusiast

  Another spectacular Harlan...It shows the earthy quality that marks wines off the estate, with an aroma suggesting a warm bale of hay under the summer sun, a sweet straw and bay laurel scent that adds savory richness to the cherry, blackberry and chocolate flavors...   (12/ 2007)

92 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

  Deep ruby-red. Aromas of plum syrup, black licorice, menthol and roasted nuts. Can't match the 2004 for depth of flavor or consistency of ripeness but conveys a fairly refined texture. A bit chunkier than the best vintages of this wine, but there's strong underlying backbone here for aging. In spite of its firm tannic spine, the finish shows lovely floral persistence.   (6/ 2010)

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