"As with all great wines, this wine is full of "harmonious contradictions.""
Wine Advocate, a publication run by U.S. wine critic Robert Parker, gave the 2019 Harlan Estate a perfect score of 100, saying so. It said intense concentration coexists with weightless elegance, and power with a refined texture. Harlan Estate is regarded as one of the finest cult wines in Napa Valley. A cult wine is one that commands fervent followers for its outstanding taste and production so limited that it is hard to find.
Harlan Estate began in 1984 when William Harlan, then a real estate developer, purchased land on the western slopes of Oakville. Starting in the 1970s, he explored the land of Napa Valley and visited first-growth vineyards in Bordeaux and Burgundy, gaining confidence that world-class wine could be made in California as well. He vinified his first wine in 1987, but, judging that the quality fell short of the goal, he held back three years of vintages from release. Only in 1996 did he formally bring the 1990 vintage to market and begin to make a name for himself in earnest.
Today, Harlan uses only one-sixth of its 240-acre site as vineyards, preserving the rest as forest. Grapes are dry-farmed and undergo rigorous berry-by-berry selection to produce only minute quantities of wine. This exacting standard is cited as the secret to achieving elegance and complexity in every vintage.
The Harlan winery itself feels like a piece of sculpture blended with nature. Actor Uhm Ji-won, who recently visited Harlan, said in a phone interview with ChosunBiz, "The wine tasting house at Harlan Estate was built with natural materials like earth and wood," adding, "Founder William Harlan sought harmony with nature." The exterior of the wine tasting house is finished in wood-toned brick, and the interior in earth tones, capturing the textures of the vineyard and forest as they are.
Harlan Estate blends around a core of Cabernet Sauvignon (about 70%) with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. It produces two lines: the flagship Harlan Estate and the second wine The Maiden, and, though it varies each year, only about 2,000 cases are shipped worldwide annually.
In addition to Robert Parker, James Suckling also gave the 2019 vintage a perfect score. It is characterized by an aroma that feels like walking through a forest, with black fruit, bay leaf, wild mint, and fresh earth harmonizing, and it was assessed to have the potential to age for 30 to 50 years. The 2020 vintage was a difficult year due to wildfires, but Harlan released only the wines that met its standards through precise selection.
Actor Uhm Ji-won picked the 2020 vintage as the most impressive in the tasting. Uhm said, "2020 was a year when Napa Valley had wildfires, so opinions are divided because of the smoky note, but it had flavors and aromas that the 2019 vintage did not," adding, "Sometimes you can taste earth in wine, and I think these elements in which nature is infused are beautiful." In other words, the philosophy Harlan emphasizes—"the harmony of nature, humans, and wine"—resonated deeply. In Korea, Harlan Estate is officially imported through NARA CELLAR.