1999 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red
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Tasting notes
Magnum. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, remainder: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot. The 1999 has a friendly, generous character and is a pleasure to drink. It lacks some of the precision of the best vintages, and the elegance of the 2001 or 2000, but is still a very pleasing wine and shows more and more complexity with air. Notes include a light mint accent lifting from a bed of sour tobacco, rose hip and spices. There is even a bit of a pink grapefruit. Nice balance of structure to flavour and good persistence. (ECB)
Critic scores
Average Score
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Good medium ruby-red. Slightly high-toned aromas of dark raspberry, spicecake, licorice and minerals. Densely packed, ripe and savory, with its very ripe, slightly inky flavors of dark berries and licorice extended on the back end by strong saline minerality. This highly concentrated, powerfully structured wine boasts excellent acidity and the ripe tannic spine for further positive development in bottle. Finishes with a repeating licorice quality and outstanding palate-staining length. (14.5% alcohol)
The 1999 Harlan Estate is another powerful, massively tannic wine. Unlike the 2001, however, the 1999 does not appear to have enough fruit to balance its imposing structural elements. My impression is that the 1999 will always be austere, until the fruit eventually fades. In other words, I don’t think the 1999 will ever find its center of balance.
92 pp, 95 ws. Smooth, buxom, concentrated cassis character. Bounteous. Certainly fulfils its intended style. Alcohol is a bit much to handle, and it’s probably too much for classicists, but it does live up to its hype – if not its price! (RH)
About the producer
Harlan Estate is one of the Napa Valley’s most prestigious wine estates. It is one of a handful of cult Cabernet producers, whose wines are some of the most expensive and collectable in the region.