2001 Vecina Cabernet Sauvignon

The most backward, earthy, muscular/masculine wine of the group is the 2001 Vecina. Still quite tightly knit, with loads of rugged tannins as well as distinctive notes of graphite and earth reminiscent of a St.-Estephe such as Chateau Montrose, the wine displays sweet, earthy blueberry and blackberry fruit, but then the tannins kick in. This full-bodied, massive wine needs a good 5-7 years of cellaring at the minimum, and whether it ever approaches the seamless/flawless perfection of a St. Eden or Melbury remains to be seen. ||As long-time readers know, this is the brainchild of Harlan Estate’s Bill Harlan, who has signed the owners of these well-placed vineyards in selected micro-climates in Napa Valley to long (quarter of a century) contracts. In the first decade, he has expanded the number of vineyard holdings to five separate wines in 2011, all made by the Harlan Estate winemaking team of Bob Levy and consulting oenologist Michel Rolland. There were only three cuvees in 2001 – from an 11-acre site on the western Oakville hillsides near Harlan Estate, the Vecina, St. Eden, an 11-acre stony knoll north of the Oakville Crossroad with a northern exposure, and from the steep slopes just north of Lake Hennessy with an eastern and southeastern exposure, east of Rutherford, the Melbury. Since these fabulous 2001s were made, two other great vineyards have been added to the Bond portfolio. These are Quella, which is a 9 acre vineyard in the eastern hills of northern Napa Valley, planted on white volcanic ash called Tufa, and Pluribus, which is a high elevation vineyard planted on steep slopes of Spring Mountain with a northern and easterly exposure. All three 2001s showed phenomenally, and are still very young wines, with at least 15 to 20 more years of upside potential. In fact, in a cold cellar these wines probably have 40 or more years of aging potential, but few of us will be able to wait that long to see how they taste.||Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444 Wine Advocate.June, 2011