2020 Harlan Estate
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Tasting notes
Wow. A little shy at first, with time in the glass, this wine reveals a bright and lifted nose – full of crunchy, pinpoint blackcurrant fruit, pencil shavings and iris florals. It’s vivid, a wine in technicolour. The palate fulfils on this promise, shimmering with fruit and with a tight ball of energy at its heart. You can feel the potential here, however it is – rather like the 2020 Promontory – extraordinarily approachable even now. Linear and with an impressive restrained intensity, this drives on with fine tannins and a twist of savoury, mouth-watering salinity on the finish. A baby at this stage, this is so different to any other Harlan we’ve ever tasted – and utterly brilliant.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Harlan Estate has two very distinct soil types: the hills to the east, of volcanic origin, and the slopes to the west, of sedimentary composition, leading to a paucity of topsoil. The g rapes are sorted by hand and fermented in small lots in wooden fermenters. T he wine is then pressed off into French barriques, a mix of new and used oak, and aged for about 24 months before being bottled, unfined and unfiltered. Practising organic and biodynamic. Perfumed, with a dense black-fruit core, yet somewhat dry and serious in its fruit character. There's lots of freshness and drive on the palate, with firm yet impressively dusty and fine-knitted tannins. This wine has depth and complexity, with a long finish and a cocoa hint. Young, but will evolve wonderfully with time. (FG)
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon showed beautifully, with a deeper purple hue as well as a pure bouquet of cassis, scorched earth, graphite, and violets that has terrific intensity and depth. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has good concentration, a balanced, layered mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and a great finish. As with the BOND releases, this was harvested early, and they seemed to have escaped any obvious smoke effects. This is a beautifully balanced, impressive 2020 that I would enjoy over the coming two decades.
The 2020 Harlan Estate is one of the very best wines I have tasted from this challenging vintage so far. Dark cherry, plum, cedar, tobacco, chocolate, licorice and dark spice all build in the glass. There is a bit of tension in the tannins, but all the elements are so well-balanced. This a truly eye-opening wine with regards to what was possible in 2020. I am not sure what that Harlan team did, but all I can say is Bravo!
About the producer
Harlan Estate is one of the Napa Valley’s most prestigious wine estates. It is one of a handful of cult Cabernet producers, whose wines are some of the most expensive and collectable in the region.