Earlier this year I was talking with my friend, colleague, and partner in FunWithWine.com, Rick, about drinking a bottle of wine he has been storing in his cellar for me. The wine in question was the 2003 Harlan Estate Proprietary red. Robert Parker rates this wine 95 points out of 100 points.
Well, if you are not familiar with Harlan, Robert Parker says that “Proprietor Bill Harlan, his winemaker, Bob Levy, and oenologist/consultant Michel Rolland continue to produce what may be the single most profound wine in California.” Harlan is located in the western hills of Oakville, California and grows the classic Bordeaux varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Harlan’s production is low and most of the wine is sold via mailing list. It is also not an inexpensive wine; for example the 2006 is offered on the mailing list at $500 per bottle.
A wine as special as a Harlan with a replacement cost of over $400 required some thought about where to drink it, when, who would be invited, and the sequence of the other wines involved for this tasting. In my mind Harlan has always been a wine drunk on special occasions with good friends.
After bouncing ideas around we decided to ask a few people we know who are on Harlan’s mailing list if they wanted to join the party. It would be a great excuse to drink wines that we buy, but never know when to drink. (We did toss around the idea of offering spots for the tasting on FunWithWine.com, but thought poeple would not want to pay over $800). When we were selecting the vintages I opened my big mouth and said that I had a few bottles of the 2005. Let’s put it this way, the 2003 is still in Rick’s cellar. The mailing list price on the 2003 was around $215 per bottle and the 2005 was $450 per bottle.
The lineup was set and Rothmann’s (Manhattan) was picked for the scene of this "over the top" tasting. Big California wines and good steaks made the restaurant choice easy. We have been to Rothmann’s on several occasions and the food is always good and the staff is accommodating to our special needs.
We started with a 1996 Mount Eden Vineyard Chardonnay to cleanse our palates. This was golden brown, with roasted nuts, citrus and hints of caramel corn. Who says California Chardonnays can’t age (more on this topic when we post notes from the FunWithWine.com Kistler dinner).
The Harlan vintages that showed up were as follows: 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005. Where do we start? We decided to start with 1995 followed by the 1998.The 2001, 2004 and 2005 would be tasted blind along with a ringer, a 2006 Scholium Project.
Notes:
1995 Harlan: (decanted for 1 – 2 hours) a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, aged in 100% new oak. It had a nose of black fruits, coffee beans, eucalyptus/mint and what we called clay pot. For a wine that was 14 years old it was still young. It was a complex, balanced wine with hints of sour cherry and a lot of depth.
1998 Harlan: (showed up late not decanted) 1,100 cases made, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Nose of tobacco, spice and black fruit. It was full bodied concentrated wine with soft tannins. I think if this wine was decanted it would have shown even better.
After bouncing ideas around we decided to ask a few people we know who are on Harlan’s mailing list if they wanted to join the party. It would be a great excuse to drink wines that we buy, but never know when to drink. (We did toss around the idea of offering spots for the tasting on FunWithWine.com, but thought poeple would not want to pay over $800). When we were selecting the vintages I opened my big mouth and said that I had a few bottles of the 2005. Let’s put it this way, the 2003 is still in Rick’s cellar. The mailing list price on the 2003 was around $215 per bottle and the 2005 was $450 per bottle.
The lineup was set and Rothmann’s (Manhattan) was picked for the scene of this "over the top" tasting. Big California wines and good steaks made the restaurant choice easy. We have been to Rothmann’s on several occasions and the food is always good and the staff is accommodating to our special needs.
We started with a 1996 Mount Eden Vineyard Chardonnay to cleanse our palates. This was golden brown, with roasted nuts, citrus and hints of caramel corn. Who says California Chardonnays can’t age (more on this topic when we post notes from the FunWithWine.com Kistler dinner).
The Harlan vintages that showed up were as follows: 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005. Where do we start? We decided to start with 1995 followed by the 1998.The 2001, 2004 and 2005 would be tasted blind along with a ringer, a 2006 Scholium Project.
Notes:
1995 Harlan: (decanted for 1 – 2 hours) a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, aged in 100% new oak. It had a nose of black fruits, coffee beans, eucalyptus/mint and what we called clay pot. For a wine that was 14 years old it was still young. It was a complex, balanced wine with hints of sour cherry and a lot of depth.
1998 Harlan: (showed up late not decanted) 1,100 cases made, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Nose of tobacco, spice and black fruit. It was full bodied concentrated wine with soft tannins. I think if this wine was decanted it would have shown even better.
My notes blind:
1) Deep, dark color. Nose of violet, cumin and blackberry. Big, concentrated well balanced, velvety blackberry some earthiness. Seemed to close down as it sat in my glass.
2) Deep, dark inky color. Nose of blackberry/blackcurrant, eucalyptus and spice. Well structured, concentrated, rich, ripe/dark berries with some acidity and tannis.
3) Dark purple color. Nose of flowers, BBQ, sweet earth and lead pencil (John Burdick will love my lead pencil description). Youthful, big, concentrated well balanced with a velvet mouth feel with soft tannis.
4) Dark purple color. Dried cherry nose. Big, concentrated, racy almost port like with hints of raspberry.
My order was 3 -2-1-4. The group results 3-1-2-4.
Here is the order:
1) Harlan 2004
2) Harlan 2001
3) Harlan 2005
4) Scholium Project 2006
Jim was gracious enough to bring a 350ml bottle of 1985 Cheval Blanc (St Emilion, Bordeaux) which we almost did not drink. Jim said, “Let’s drink it because I do not want to carry it home”. I was concerned that this wine would fall short after such big California Cabs. I was wrong. Maybe the steak and onion rings helped to soften the blow. It was an earthy, leathery, a little gamey, dark fruit- a well balanced wine with good weight for 14 years old.
I was happy to see that my 2005 was the favorite of the blind tasting and even happier that I still have 2 bottles in my cellar. It was a lot of fun thanks to all who participated.
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