Harlan Estate, owned by Bill Harlan, is a luxury, world-class, Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine produced from a steep, terraced vineyard on the western side of Napa Valley, high above Napa's famous Martha's Vineyard. Approximately 24 acres are in vine and the yields to date have been very low. Bill Harlan, better-known as one of the principals of Merryvale Vineyards and Napa's exquisite Meadowood Country Club and Resort, has only one objective: to produce one of the greatest red wines of California.
The wines are a blend of approximately two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and the remainder Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Bob Levy, Merryvale's winemaker and Michel Rolland, the well-known Bordeaux oenologist, are the architects behind these exceptional efforts. Stylistically the wines are the Napa Valley equivalent of a hypothetical La Mission-Haut-Brion/Cheval-Blanc blend. They are rich, powerful wines with unmistakable elegance, complexity, and purity.