WTN: 2004 Harlan Estate and The Maiden

[David McDuff]

During a visit to Harlan Estate in mid-January, I had the opportunity to taste their 2004's which had just gone through their final racking in preparation for bottling. I've finally gotten around to writing up the visit and thought I'd post the WTN portion. The notes can be found in their full, original context here:

Napa: A Day of Contrasts, Part One

Harlan's second wine, The Maiden 2004 offers a lush, forward mouthful of plum, raspberry and blueberry fruit with a subtle hint of menthol, all framed by ripe, fine-grained tannins. The wine is built to last but already, before even undergoing its destined sixteen months of pre-release bottle aging, eminently drinkable. Less than 1000 cases of The Maiden are produced each year and it is offered for sale only via the estate’s mailing list.

Harlan Estate 2004 is seriously good juice. Black cherry in color and opaque at its core, it shows a lovely tint of ripe cherry red at its rim. The flavors are bigger, more powerful and brooding relative to The Maiden. Its tannins are firmer and more muscular. One senses a serious expression of the Oakville hillside terroir, not loaded up with unwieldy winemaking flourishes. Flavors of concentrated black currant, blackberry and roasted meats prevail, with tremendous length on the finish. Winemaker Bob Levy targets a 20 year peak for this wine, well beyond the current trend for a 5-10 year apogee at most Napa wineries. By contemporary standards, its alcohol content is reasonable at 14.5%; its balance is impeccable.

[JohnL]

You know......

Your notes run counter to the conventional wisdom.

That all these so called "cult" wines all taste the same.

Have no expression of terroir.

Are over extracted fruit bombs.

Were made just to get high scores from Robert Parker.

etc etc etc (really blah blah blah)

anyway

thanks!

(especially for the well written and informative link)

[GordonCooks]

Nice notes, I can actually afford my allocation this year.

[SiseFromm]

We recently received a 3-pack box of the 2003 Maiden but we haven't cracked them yet. I actually re-nailed the box closed and pushed it to the back of the wine cabinet. I'd like to give it some time before we jump in. Maybe some time next year at the earliest.

[artisanbaker]

i clicked on the link and found your writing to be most impressive. thanks

[David McDuff]

You know......

Your notes run counter to the conventional wisdom.

That all these so called "cult" wines all taste the same.

Have no expression of terroir.

Are over extracted fruit bombs.

Were made just to get high scores from Robert Parker.

etc etc etc (really blah blah blah)

anyway

thanks!

(especially for the well written and informative link)

←

Hmm, did I forget to say ripe and lush? Both wines were, particularly The Maiden. Jammy, over-extracted, and bomb-like they were not -- and believe me I've had all too many wines at all levels, not just the cult offerings, that are. To me, the Harlan Estate bottling in particular tasted like it came from somewhere meaningful and, while rich, was not at all over-the-top.

And thanks all for the good words. Cheers!