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harlan estate, napa valley 2015
WINE SPECTATOR
97
ROBERT PARKER'S WINE ADVOCATE
100

2015 harlan estate, napa valley

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Why We're Buying

Harlan Estate is a myth figure in Napa Valley. The first vintage was released in 1983 and the critical praise continues to this day. Its eponymous Bordeaux-styled red blend routinely retails north of $1,000 per bottle, with wine critic Robert Parker giving it a jaw-dropping eight perfect ratings. After trying the 2016 vintage, wine critic Wilfred Wong said, "There is only one Harlan. This wine, from one of the most magnificent wine properties in the world, once again stands on its own plateau."

Critics Scores

WINE SPECTATOR
97

Wine Spectator

A huge red, with powerfully rendered dark fig, macerated black currant and steeped boysenberry fruit framed by a bittersweet chocolate note. With time in the glass, the fruit unwinds slowly, allowing anise and loam accents to fill in on the fleshy finish. There’s some serious heft here through the back end too, with a long echo of smoldering tobacco and a great tug of dark earth.

ROBERT PARKER'S WINE ADVOCATE
100

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Bottled in early 2018, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Proprietary Red Wine is a little closed, slowly unfurling to reveal black cherries, crème de cassis and plum pudding with nuances of potpourri, baking spices and tilled soil plus wafts of garrigue and wild sage. The palate is full-bodied and concentrated with exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and fantastic poise and depth with a long, decadently fruited finish.

JAMES SUCKLING
99

James Suckling

Incredible aromas of fresh flowers, such as roses and violets, and blackcurrants. Full body and defined levels of fruit and tannins too. Love the brightness and texture. An excellent finish. Production was down by a third because of bad berry set. Try in 2021.

JEB DUNNUCK
100

Jeb Dunnuck

The 2015 Harlan Estate is a beast of a wine that shows the sexy, opulent style of the vintage married to the classic structure and depth of this estate. A downright smorgasbord of blackcurrants, blackberries, crushed rocks, graphite, smoky camphor, cured meats, and dried tobacco aromas all emerge from the glass, and it shows the deep, concentrated style of the vintage yet still has awesome complexity and nuances. Deep, powerful, and structured, yet opulent and incredibly sexy on the palate, it reminds me of the 2002. A brilliant wine from this estate, it's already approachable given its wealth of fruit yet has the tannic backbone and density to keep for 3-4 decades or more.