Wine Advisor
Harlan, Proprietary Red 1994
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Slightly more vibrant saturated ruby-red color. Even deeper and more nuanced aromas of liqueur-like blackcurrant, black olive, violet, minerals, brown spices and floral perfume. In contrast to the (relatively) more laid-back '95, this is almost painfully sweet on entry, with huge extract giving it a three-dimensional texture. More powerfully structured than the '95, but as large as it is, it retains near-perfect balance. Explosive finishing fruit covers the rich, sweet tannins.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A deep opaque purple hue: looks more like a 2-3 year old wine than a teenager. The nose is hedonistic: rammed full of super-ripe blackberries, a touch of cedar and warm alcohol but without a sense of delineation or tension. The palate is full-bodied, sinewy, somewhat impenetrable at present. It has massive extraction, a Cabernet with the hubris of Attila the Hun in a particularly ambitious mood. I must admit, it just comes across as a wine of dimension more than drinkability. Tasted December 2007.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
What can I say about the 1994? I have tasted the wine for three consecutive years, and each time it satisfied all of my requirements for perfection. The opaque purple color is followed by spectacular aromatics that soar from the glass, offering up celestial levels of black currants, minerals, smoked herbs, cedar wood, coffee, and pain grille. In the mouth, this seamless legend reveals full body, and exquisite layers of phenomenally pure and rich fruit, followed by a 40+ second finish. While accessible, the 1994 begs for another 5-7 years of cellaring. It should easily last for 30+ years. Every possible jagged edge - acidity, alcohol, tannin, and wood - is brilliantly intertwined in what seems like a diaphanous format. What is so extraordinary about this large-scaled wine, with its dazzling display of aromatics and prodigious flavors and depth, is that it offers no hint of heaviness or coarseness. Harlan's 1994 comes close to immortality in the glass. Much of this wine will be sold to the winery's mailing list customers. If you miss out on the 1994, try and get on the waiting list for future vintages. While perfect wines are few and far between, history has taught me that wineries with such lofty aspirations as Harlan Estate will continue to push the envelop of quality. Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1994 is the first potentially perfect Harlan Estate wine. It is almost foolish to try and articulate how wines such as this taste, given the extraordinary number of nuances, layers, and textures the wine has to offer. It is opaque black/purple in color, exceptionally fragrant, profoundly extracted, yet brilliantly well-defined and balanced. It is a wine-making tour de force. Yes, it possesses that haunting Cheval Blanc/La Mission-Haut-Brion-like character, but because of California's climate, there is greater ripeness and purer fruit. As with all of Harlan Estate's offerings to date, the 1994 will have 20+ years of aging potential. The only opportunity readers will have to latch onto a bottle of these extraordinary wines (the exquisite packaging - note the Rubenesque female figure caressing a succulent bunch of grapes - is also admirable) is to get their names on the winery's mailing list. Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1994 is the first potentially perfect Harlan Estate wine. It is almost foolish to try and articulate how wines such as this taste, given the extraordinary number of nuances, layers, and textures the wine has to offer. It is opaque black/purple in color, exceptionally fragrant, profoundly extracted, yet brilliantly well-defined and balanced. It is a wine-making tour de force. Yes, it possesses that haunting Cheval Blanc/La Mission-Haut-Brion-like character, but because of California's climate, there is greater ripeness and purer fruit. As with all of Harlan Estate's offerings to date, the 1994 will have 20+ years of aging potential. This meticulously handcrafted wine is something to treasure. Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
There are a half dozen or so 1994 California red wines that are flirting with a perfect score. One of these wines is the 1994 Harlan Estate. As impressive as this estate's other vintages are, the 1994 somehow manages to cram more richness, complexity, and intensity into the same full-bodied format. This opaque purple-colored wine is super pure, with phenomenal richness, and exquisite flavor intensity. The wine offers up a knock-out mineral, blackcurrant, and spice-scented (cedar?) nose that recalls a hypothetical blend of La Mission-Haut-Brion/Mouton-Rothschild. It boasts compelling richness on the palate, as well as a layered, textured feel, and a 30-45 second finish. Very accessible, largely because the wine's tannin is so sweet and well-integrated, this reference point Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine should drink well for two to three decades. All of this has been achieved without any hint of heaviness or coarseness. Dazzling wines! I urge interested readers to get their names on the winery's mailing list if they want to purchase these wines. Since this wine debuted in 1990, Harlan Estate has produced one of California's most impressive Cabernet Sauvignons in each vintage of the nineties. The impressive mountainside vineyard is situated on the western side of Napa Valley, overlooking Martha's Vineyard. No compromises are made in producing this dazzling wine. Proprietor Bill Harlan, assisted by his winemaker, Bob Levy, and consulting oenologist, France's Michel Rolland, have turned out a wine of exquisite richness and complexity. The wine offers the intensity one expects from a top California Cabernet-based wine, yet it incorporates a sense of grace, complexity, and elegance that clearly places it in the top echelon of California wines. The 1991 Harlan Estate (which I enthusiastically extolled last year) was recently inserted as a ringer in a blind tasting of the top 1990 and 1989 Bordeaux. It scored impressively well against the likes of 1990 Latour, 1990 Margaux, and 1990 Petrus. I have no doubts that the 1992, 1993, and 1994 are also brilliant efforts. Harlan Estate's small production is slowly inching up, with 1,800-2,000 cases produced in both 1994 and 1995. The wine, which is reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of a great California Cabernet and equal parts La Mission-Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, and Mouton-Rothschild, is a must purchase for those with the requisite discretionary income and ability to track down a few bottles of this knock-out wine. Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444
About the Producer
The land at Château Harlan is unique in that the vineyards are situated on hillsides that are well drained and rise and fall with the slopes. The first 9.7 hectares of vineyard, planted between 1986 and 1987, was planted in a staggered manner, as the two small plots that make up the vineyard are located on either side of the hillside. The vines were planted with 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The vineyards are planted at varying densities, with half of the vineyards planted with 1,750 vines per hectare and the other half with 5,500 vines per hectare. The high quality of Château Hallam's wines is a result of the meticulousness of the entire winemaking process. The winemaking philosophy at Château Hallam is to preserve the natural flavour of the grapes and to take a gentle approach to the growing and fermentation process. The barrels in the winery are all new French oak barrels. The main wine, Harlan Estate Proprietary Red, is aged in barrel for 25 months, while the unselected wine is bottled after 10 months as a secondary wine, The Maiden, without filtration or clarification. The wines of Château Hallam are dark in colour, fruity and floral, with strong, restrained tannins and a firm, robust texture, and have the potential to age for at least 20 years. Best vintages include: 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2007.
