1997 Harlan Estate Napa Valley California USA Wine Tasting Note

Smoke, blackberry liqueur, blueberries, cassis, spice and toasty oak aromas were all over the place. Powerful, concentrated and intense, this mouth filling wine coats your palate with waves of juicy ripe berries. Like all the bottles from this evening, the Harlan Estate was served blind. I bring this up so that you know, out of a table with 8 people, not one taster mentioned finding VA in the this particular bottle. I am certain some bottles are not clean, but this specific botte was a compelling tasting experience!

9,241 Views   Tasted Mar 10, 2020

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Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this wine clearly has two sides to its personality. One can be at a minimum, marked by VA, others can be destroyed by VA. There are other times when the wine can provide stunning levels of pleasure. Fortunately for us, one of the good bottles decided to show up. Powerful, sweet, lush, rich, velvety, silky and rich, the fruit is ripe, fresh, clean and sweet. The finish is long, pure and generous.

The most inconsistent famous Cabernet Sauvignon on the planet. There are faulty bottles of this wine that are clearly marred by excessive VA. There are perfectly clean bottles as well. And there are bottles that are good, but not great, like this one. The fruit was ripe, the complexity was there as well. The wine was rich, long and round, but something felt a little bit off, as this was not at the same level of quality of the other bottles of Harlan served in the same blind flight.

When this wine is on, it’s a majestic experience. On other occasions, the wine is marred by excessive VA, robbing the wine of its purity and exotic quality. Sadly, this example was flawed.

This could be the most controversial California Cult Cabernet wine in existence. And for good reason. Several bottles have been marred by VA, while others are clean. The clean bottles offer a stunning tasting experience. Fortunately, this was one of the clean bottles! Coffee, coconut, chocolate, licorice, blackberry, blueberry, jam and smoke, along with a minor touch of VA. Enough VA to add complexity, but not enough to overpower the wine. Huge, intense, concentrated and packed with layers of sweet, ripe, fruit, this wine coats your palate and keeps your attention focused on the levels of fruit packed into a single bottle of this elixir.