1990-95 Harlan Estate Cabernet - OWC - Limited Release - 6 x 750ml

1991 - 98 pts - I had the privilege of tasting the exquisite 1991 from barrel. Finally, 938 cases of the 1991 have been bottled unfiltered and released. Produced from a rocky, terraced vineyard on the western hillsides of Napa, looking down on Martha's Vineyard and the Oakville Grade area, this wine is one of the most promising and profound Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines made in California. Bill Harlan, proprietor of the luxurious Meadowood Country Club and Resort, has dreamed of producing a classic California Cabernet for years, and he experimented with small micro-vinifications from the mid-eighties. The 1991 will finally bring to the world's attention what Bill Harlan, along with his two wine-makers, Bob Levy of Merryvale and Michel Rolland of France, has achieved. The 1991, two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance Cabernet Franc and Merlot, is even more impressive now than it was earlier. The wine boasts an opaque purple/dark ruby color, followed by an extraordinarily profound bouquet of sweet cassis, vanilla, minerals, toast, chocolate, and tobacco. Remarkably rich, full-bodied, and layered, with thrilling extract levels, yet soft tannin, this wine continues to remind me of a California fantasy blend of La Mission-Haut-Brion and Cheval Blanc. Strikingly powerful and intense, as well as unequivocally graceful, it is a compelling wine that propels Harlan Estate into the upper echelon of Cabernet Sauvignon wine producers.

1992 - 96 pts - The newest release, the 1992, offers a dense purple color, and a splendid sweet nose of minerals, blackcurrants, toast, and spice. Opulent and rich, with full body, and well-integrated sweet tannin, this expansive yet graceful wine possesses layers of flavor that caress the palate. The wine is accessible, yet still youthful and unformed. Dazzling wines! I urge interested readers to get their names on the winery's mailing list if they want to purchase these wines.

1993 - 95 pts - The 1993 should be as prodigious as the 1992. It is an opaque purple-colored wine with spectacular ripeness, purity, and potential. Dense, full-bodied, with a chocolatey, toasty, mineral, and blackcurrant-scented nose, this wine has a rich, full-bodied, chewy texture nicely buttressed by ripe tannin. In addition, the wine reveals more noticeable tannin in the finish, particularly when it is compared to the 1992 or 1994.

1994 - 100 pts - What can I say about the 1994? I have tasted the wine for three consecutive years and each time it satisfied all of my requirements for perfection. The opaque purple color is followed by spectacular aromatics that soar from the glass offering up celestial levels of black currants minerals smoked herbs cedar wood coffee and pain grille. In the mouth this seamless legend reveals full body and exquisscaled wine with its dazzling display of aromatics and prodigious flavors and depth is that it offers no hint of heaviness or coarseness. Harlan's 1994 comes close to immortality in the glass.ite layers of phenomenally pure and rich fruit followed by a 40+ second finish. While accessible the 1994 begs for another 5-7 years of cellaring. It should easily last for 30+ years. Every possible jagged edge - acidity alcohol tannin and wood - is brilliantly intertwined in what seems like a diaphanous format. What is so extraordinary about this large.

1995 pts - 99 pts - The 1995 Harlan Estate is almost as perfect as the 1994. It has gotten even better in the bottle, and remains one of the most remarkable young Cabernet Sauvignons I have tasted. The wine, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, was aged in 100% new oak, which adds subtle pain grille/toasty scents. This opaque purple-colored Cabernet offers up a nose of smoke, coffee beans, black and blue fruits, minerals, and roasted herbs. It is extremely full-bodied, with spectacular purity, exquisite equilibrium, and a seamless personality with everything in total harmony. The finish lasts for more than 40 seconds. This extravagantly rich, profoundly complex 1995 will give its 1994 sibling a run for its money.

1990 - 95 pts - A mix of mature herb, black olive, anise and savory notes, with dried currant, plum and berry. Elegant, balanced, intense and persistent, showing little sign of losing its vitality.

1993 - 92 pts - Fresh, vibrant plum, black cherry and currant fruit is still tight and focused in this well-balanced, structured wine, which is poised to age on. Offers more subtlety, with hints of black cherry, plum, black olive and roasted herb. The finish is long, and the tannins have traction.

1994 - 97 pts - This blockbuster shows little in the way of aging. It exhibits rich, dense, concentrated tiers of red cherry, plum, blackberry and currant, picking up pretty secondary nuances of anise, sage and cedar, and finishing with a strong, persistent aftertaste that keeps echoing juicy ripe fruit flavors.

1995 - 96 pts - Tight, sturdy and slow to evolve, with firm, concentrated dried currant, sage, plum, tobacco and black cherry flavors, gaining depth and nuance while retaining a sense of elegance and finesse.