Wine Spectator | Rating: 95
A muscular, chunky, chewy, extracted style, with remarkable fruit purity, featuring deep, penetrating blackberry, wild berry, blueberry and currant flavors. Gains a crushed rock minerality, but the fruit never lets up. Ends with firm tannins.Author: James LaubeWine Advocate | Rating: 100
As I predicted last year, the 2013 Harlan Estate is one of their all-time greats, although they have had many of them, starting with the 1991, followed by 1994, 1995, 1997 (although controversial in some circles), 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012. This great first-growth property, with aspirations to produce the finest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine made in the New World, has given us a wine that has it all in 2013. Dense purple to the rim, with notes of espresso, white chocolate, mocha, blackberry, cassis, and cedar wood, the wine is full-bodied, opulent, but also structured, pure and incredibly long (well past a minute aftertaste). It is probably closest in personality and overall character to the compelling 2001, which is still a youthful wine at age 15. Drink it over the next 50+ years.Author: Robert ParkerVinous | Rating: 99
The 2013 Harlan Estate has really shut down since I tasted it from barrel a year ago. Dark, powerful and brooding, with plenty of tannic grip, the 2013 is a wine to buy and forget about for at least a few years. Black fruit, graphite, violet smoke and licorice are some of the signatures, but, here, too, the wine belongs to the future. I wouldn't dream of opening a bottle before its tenth birthday. The Harlan Estate is one of the most finessed - if not the most finessed 2013 - readers will taste. This is a stunningly beautiful, vivid wine.Author: Antonio GalloniJamesSuckling.com | Rating: 100
This is really sensational with such precision and focus. Glorious aromas of tar, graphite, blackcurrants, and blackberries. Full-bodied, very tight, and reserved. Phenomenal tannic structure that is supple and wonderful. This new classicism makes me speechless. It's pure pleasure. You can drink it now, but it's built for aging.Author: James Suckling
See other similar producers:Opus One,Pahlmeyer,Sloan Estate
California is the heartland of wine production in the US, and the state that brought prestige to American wine thanks to the pioneers who built early wineries like Staglin, Beringer, Ridge, Mayacamas and Chateau Montelena in the 1800s. Its large geographic area ensures a great diversity in growing sites, varieties grown, and quality levels. Generalizations about the state's wines have numerous exceptions; however, a few key facts generally hold true—ample sunshine, dry weather during the growing season, and moderate winters prevail. Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon continue to dominate the state's production—albeit in continually smaller percentages, as growers continue to diversify. More than 100 different varieties can be found throughout the state.
White Bordeaux blends are most commonly composed of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, and come in a range of dry and sweet styles. Sémillon contributes body while Sauvignon Blanc adds high acidity, a characteristic that is particularly important in the sweet wines of Bordeaux.
Sauternes is one of the world’s most prestigious regions for sweet wine production, made possible by Sémillon’s affinity for noble rot. Wines from world-renowned Château d’Yquem are fermented and matured in new oak for up to three years and can age for decades in bottle. These wines display complex aromas of melon, honey, apricot, citrus peel, mango, and butterscotch and develop added complexity and aromas with age.
The best dry wines from this blend come from producers such as Château Haut-Brion, Château Pape Clément, and Domaine de Chevalier in Pessac-Léognan and Graves. These wines are typically fermented and matured in new oak and display a full-bodied richness with concentrated nutty flavors overlaying the fruit.
Collector Data For This Wine
- 1087 bottles owned
- 170 collectors