WINEMAKER NOTES:
Pouring an opaque purple, boasting stirring power and carrying infinite detail on a frame of flawless, tightly woven tannins, the 2018 Harlan provides as engrossing a sensory experience as you can expect a wine to give you. And that’s in the short term. For the far-sighted, it will only gain in complexity and profundity, and it’s likely to appreciate in value as much as—or more than—any First Growth Bordeaux.
TASTING NOTES:
The 2018 Harlan Estate was tasted as a barrel sample, to be bottled in March. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a fair bit of swirling to reveal a wonderfully fragrant perfume of blueberry pie, chocolate-covered cherries, mulberries and black currant pastilles with hints of cumin seed, rose oil and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, the taut, grainy-textured palate delivers remarkable energy with compelling tension and a long, graceful, earth-laced finish.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 pts.
A classic example of 2018 Napa Cabernet, this has a deep well of fruit in the form of black currant, blackberry and boysenberry reduction laced liberally with notes of smoldering tobacco, warm earth and tar, which compete for attention on the muscular yet driven finish. Subtle bay leaf and cast iron echoes at the very end add intrigue. This should be among the longer-lived wines of the vintage.
- Wine Spectator, 99 pts.
