Last fall, Will Harlan debuted The Mascot 2008, a $75 Cabernet blend made from Harlan Estates younger vines and purchased grapes. Offered in Fine and Rare Wines Online: Featuring the Renowned Cellar of an American Collector on 31 January-14 February 2023 at Christie's online Wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr., routinely gives the wine very high marks (98 for the 1996 vintage, 99 for the 1995 and a perfect 100 for the 1997). (or make friends with someone on the list). By hitting submit you agree to receive marketing emails from Wine.com, agree to our Terms of Service and certify that you are of legal drinking age. It's clear that Bill is not a fan of the stereotype of his wines as superripe fruit bombs. Where the estate excels is in its meticulous attention to the tiniest details, whether in the vineyard, the cellar, design or marketing. "Sooner or later," comes the enigmatic reply. Perhaps paradoxically, this wine is at once rich and full bodied yet exquisitely elegant. That's what I'm looking to achieve. That overall birds-eye view, concurrent with the very on-the-ground perspective of the letters themselves, has been a distinct advantage in this series that looks back over an extremely influential time in American wine history. History Harlan Estate was founded in 1984 by H. William Harlan, a real estate developer and Napa Valley resort owner. Carved from the raw land and built for generations, the estate is over 240 acres of natural spendor, 15% of which are under vine, planted to the classic varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Maybe if Bill Harlan's beard were just a few feet longer, he'd be attracting crowds of the faithful looking to learn how to lead meaningful lives, not plaintive wine collectors begging for a bottle of his famous Bordeaux-style blend. treasured bottles of wine. Were always obsessing over the latest (and oldest) vintages, and we want to share that knowledge and passion with our readers. Many wines made in the 1990s have reached peak maturity already, so theyre a great option for those who dont want to wait for their wines to mature or who want a glimpse into how well Harlan Estate wines can age. Internet Explorer is no longer supported. For example, Screaming Eagle does not offer a second label. Deep, dark coloralmost black. Harlan Estate vintages made in the past ten years will age for at least 20 years, likely more. In 1984, he planted the estates first vines: a traditional Bordelais mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot plantings. The terroir, combined with careful winemaking, produces wines that are heavily perfumed, intense in flavor, and elegantly balanced. But in our spare time, were just a group of
There were no sub-$15 Cabernets by Salvestrin on the list. It's not just an asset, it's an experience. Its not a model for his wine we want to be purely Californian but he clearly admires the esteem in which it has long been held. ", The story of the Harlan Estate wine label probably best illustrates what Bill Harlan is all about. All manufactured homes must have an affixed HUD certification label, also known as a HUD tag located on the outside of the home. Harlan "The Maiden" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend K&L Wine Merchants - Auctions USA: (CA) Redwood City Standard delivery 1-2 weeks More shipping info Go to shop $ 149.70 Buyer's premium 10% Auction He found what he wanted on the rocky, forested lower slopes of the Mayacamas mountains on the valleys western side, just above Marthas Vineyard, bought the first 16ha in 1984 from its Canadian owner and added 80ha more over the next 10 years. In the 1990s his .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}eponymous hillside winery redefined the style of Napa reds and helped spawn the so-called Cult Cabernet movementan elite group of boutique wineries selling opulent reds for hundreds of dollars to eager collectors. To make things more complicated, if you take a break from buying allocations or are caught flipping bottles at auction immediately after buying them, you can be removed from the mailing list. "It was a label designed for a bottle that would sit on a table in candlelight, not on a store shelf," he said. So Harlan kept looking, and several years later, quite by chance, he heard about Herb Fichter, an 85-year-old retired government engraver who had worked at the U.S. Treasury. When Harlan went looking to buy land in Napa in 1984, he was still single, living on a boat in Sausalito but growing restless. Our Story. The estate expanded, and now spans 36 acres of vineyards across some of the choicest elevations and soils in the region all affording stunning views of the Napa Valley. Buying older wines often costs more, but youll be able to enjoy the mature flavors of aged wine without putting in the time to age the wine yourself. Son Will was born the following year, and a daughter, Amanda, in 1989. "It's a wild place." This is the site of one of the most talked-about projects in Napa's insular wine community, an 860-acre property called Promontory. . Released at $850 per bottle, its price rose on the speculative market,[1] and may range from $1200 and up. This is helped by the fact that the key team chief winemaker Bob Levy and estate manager and president Don Weaver have been working together for years. Customer Care Michel always gives him a very expensive answer.". Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. ; Founded in 1984, Harlan Estate is a winegrowing estate in the western hills of Oakville, California in the heart of the Napa Valley. The reason (apart from such factors as transport and custom fees for imported wines) is simple: The law of supply and demand ensures that prices will rise when many people want a scarce commodity. The finest Harlan Estate vintages often taste very ripe in their youth, full of rich blackberry and gripping tannin. "It has the makings of one of the longest lived wines in Napa," Empting says, as we contemplate the very youthful 2010 over an autumn lunch in Yountville. "It's a wild place.". The best Harlan Estate vintages always sell out quickly. They are the reason he is currently at work on a book of what he calls "life lessons," although Harlan, soon to turn 61, says that what he really needs to do now is stop writing: "I promised myself I'd have the book finished by my sixtieth birthday. Copyright 2023 Tungsten Publishing. Amazingly enough the property had been overlooked for years; not many buyers, it seemed, were interested in such a hilly plot. The first three vintages 1987, 1988 and 1989 were never released, and Michel Rolland signed on as consultant in 1989, which led to picking grapes riper, hand sorting and refining techniques. The Harlan Estate was founded in 1984 by H. William Harlan with the mission to establish one of the finest winegrowing estates in the United States, to transform a virgin hillside into a vineyard producing an American wine that was truly unique. But the wines, while rich and lush, havent yet achieved first-growth complexity. Fichter was skeptical; what Harlan wanted to do was quite hard. (It always has a voluptuous texture and relatively soft tannins compared with, say, a first growth Bordeaux.). The 2007 vintage of Screaming Eagle received a perfect 100 score from Robert Parker, while the current release, 2008, received a 96-98 score and their availability even to their mailing list clients remains very limited, usually three bottles. No Reproduction Without Prior Authorizations. To say that Bill Harlan's every move is scrutinized in Napa would be an understatement. This is when things get hairy. Harlan Estate, Napa's Most Talked About Winery, Reveals Its Next Cult Red, Subscriptions for Every Kind of Wine Lover, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Harlan Estate is a relatively young winery. It's one of the most buzzed-about new projects in California's insular wine community. + - Add to cart Description The Maiden stands tall among the best. Harlan searched only in the hills. Investing in wine could be your smartest investment yet. The outside world has certainly developed an opinion of the brand. Why are so many wine enthusiasts fascinated with this, ? View Privacy Policy. There are only two people Harlan hopes to pass his particular vision along to, his 11-year-old daughter and his 13-year-old son. The domain traces its beginning to the founding in 1984 of Harlan Estate, located in the western hills of Oakville and . The offer? The article mentions the possibility of the No Labels movement in the U.S. seeking to be listed on state ballots as a political party. With these tools, you can start a Harlan collection that any cult California wine fan would be proud to own. William Kelley tastes a 12 vintage vertical of this 'Californian first growth', and Elin McCoy delves into the estate's past, present and future, Location Oakville, Napa Valley Evidently its not the simple passage of time that has led the estate to command such prices, but instead a relentless pursuit of quality throughout the entire winemaking process, from the first shoots in the vineyards to the smallest detail in the label design. Bordeaux, to get things started. For example, Bryant Family Vineyard, another favorite, this year released a second label DB4. Very deep garnet-black colour with a purple rim. The wine did not disappoint. A limited number of collectors can buy these bottles directly from the estates exclusive mailing list, and, of these bottles, only a small number end up on the secondary market for resale. XVAW00000101625, You must be 18 or over, or the legal age in your region to use the services of Cult Wines. Harlan purchased 230 steep, wooded acres just west of the famed Martha's Vineyard, with a view of the town of Oakville. The article listed nine wineries including Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle, Shafer Vineyards and Colgin. , allowing you to keep your Harlan collection safe while it ages under strict environmental controls. Harlans ambition to create a Californian First Growth to rival the likes of Bordeauxs Mouton-Rothschild has never faltered, and the estate rapidly acquired cult status. (Harlan had made several wines that he never released before deciding the 1990 was readyin January 1996). Its flagship wine is the eponymous Harlan Estate. Some online sellers also offer professional storage services, allowing you to keep your Harlan collection safe while it ages under strict environmental controls. To be able to purchase these second labels from the leading wine producers in Napa Valley you need to be patient and get on their mailing lists. A former adrenaline junkie who raced motorcycles, taught flying, and spent a lot of time and money in casinos, Bill Harlan eventually became a real estate mogul in Napa and developed an appreciation for wine. The Clockwork Building, 45 Beavor Lane, London W6 9AR, Reg Company No. Of the so-called cult wineries that burst on the scene in the 1990s, Harlan is the one I find most fascinating, said Elin McCoy, in her profile of Harlan Estate forDecanter magazine in 2014. Because the estate is located at a high elevation on southeastern-facing hills, the fruit is exposed to ample sunlight during the summer, producing grapes that are fully ripe and deeply concentrated in flavor. He'd studied the great wines of the world and discovered that they nearly always came from hillside vineyards. Buying older wines often costs more, but youll be able to enjoy the mature flavors of aged wine without putting in the time to age the wine yourself. [4], The Director of Wine Making, Bob Levy, has worked with Harlan since 1983, when Harlan took part in founding the Merryvale Winery. Even the winery, which looks like a sprawling stone and log cabin, has a link to Americas Western past. In 1997, Harlan founded BOND in collaboration with winemaker Bob Levy to again produce more prestigious wines from Napa Valley. GB 129 9514 84 | AWRS No. The Harlan team is making wine from the best blocks of 11ha of those vines, replanting another 16ha and expanding by another 5ha. 1,248 cases made. The first Harlan Estate, the 1990 vintage, was released in 1996 for $65. Bond, an Oakville winery owned by Bill Harlan, typically buys fruit from a vineyard for about 10 years before deciding whether it's worthy of its label. The Maiden will ship this spring. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silta combination excellent for world-class red wine production. ", We eventually reach a clearing, a patchwork of vineyards carved out of madrone and live oak clinging to steep, undulant slopes. In 1997, only about 20% of the list received any wine at all. Estimate: $2,000-4,000. "We've seen bear and mountain lion up here," Harlan says. What we do is different. Get Free Shipping on orders over $49. It's hard to believe we are only a little more than a mile west of the town of Yountville; we seem to have traversed at least a century, passing a run-down shack that the occupant of the seat next to Harlan, winemaker Cory Empting, identifies as a former still. , Robinson says the extra cost is generally worth it. Vineyards planted by a previous owner span elevations from 150m to 340m. However, Harlan has accomplished a great deal in a short period of time. Eventually, with Fichter overseeing the design (inspired by a nineteenth-century engraving), the first Harlan Estate wine label was launched, a mere 10 years after Harlan had started his search.