2004 Harlan Estate Red Wine Napa Valley

The 2004 Harlan Estate is probably the most precocious and accessible Harlan Estate that this perfectionist team has made. Already compelling, the wine has notes of roasted coffee, charcoal, blackberry, spring flowers, and some background sweet, toasty notes. Dense, fleshy, exuberant, even flamboyant by the standards of Bill Harlan, this wine exhibits no jaggedness or rough edges, has relatively high tannins, but they melt away on the palate. The wine is sensationally well-endowed, long, and rich a tour de force in winemaking. They can do no wrong at Harlan, and it is obvious, even in the most challenging vintages such as 1998, that this estate is a true grand cru/first growth, making wines of irrefutable world-class quality. Of course, none of this comes cheap, as the price is now moving up into the league with Screaming Eagle, but there are no shortage of takers.So whats new? Harlan Estate continues to produce only a meager 1,500 or so cases from over 40 acres of beautifully manicured hillside vineyards overlooking the Oakville corridor (to be precise, the western slopes looking down on Marthas Vineyard and parts of the To-Kalon Vineyard). Proprietor Bill Harlan and his winemaking team of Bob Levy and global oenologist Michel Rolland push the envelope in all ways, but the results continue to be magnificent as well as increasingly expensive and rare. The second wine, which is usually around 1,000+ cases, is The Maiden, which is also a super wine in its own right.Previously recommended: 2003 The Maiden (91), 2003 Harlan Estate (95).Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444 Review Date: December 2007

This is very great Harlan. It pours dark and saturated, and the tannins are big and sturdy, not aggressive, but sweet and finely ground. Still, they give a hardness to the immaculately ripe fruit that mandates cellaring. The flavors of currants, blackberries, plums, chocolate and cedar are lush, deep and long-lasting, but just a part of the balanced appeal of this young wine. It really defines the exquisite tension between power and elegance. *Wine Enthusiast Best of 2007, Cellar Selection* Review Date: December 2007