($350) Deep medium ruby. Superripe aromas and flavors of roasted black raspberry, licorice, mocha and minerals; just this side of liqueur-like. Thick, dense and silky but tightly wound and still youthfully closed. This compellingly deep wine boasts outstanding sweetness without coming off as over the top. Finishes with huge but sweet tannins and great length.

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The 2004 Harlan Estate is probably the most precocious and accessible Harlan Estate that this perfectionist team has made. Already compelling, the wine has notes of roasted coffee, charcoal, blackberry, spring flowers, and some background sweet, toasty notes. Dense, fleshy, exuberant, even flamboyant by the standards of Bill Harlan, this wine exhibits no jaggedness or rough edges, has relatively high tannins, but they melt away on the palate. The wine is sensationally well-endowed, long, and rich - a tour de force in winemaking.

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Firmly structured and tightly wound, with deep, perfumed currant, anise, sage and cedary oak notes, picking up a mineral and pebble edge and ending with a return to the spicy currant fruit. Long and persistent, with tight tannins.

Aside from the 2002 vintage (99 points, $245 release), the 2004 is one of the highest scoring Harlan vintages in years, rated at the same level as the 1999, 1997, 1996 and 1994. While a $350 price tag may seem steep, the 2002 is already selling for $1,000 and demand for the 2003 Harlan (90 points, $265), has recently sent its auction average price over $500 a bottle.

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