Harlan Estate, The Maiden, Napa Valley

Just a pleasant bottle. Tannins smoothed out after a short decant, and while obviously in Napa's ripe, fruit-forward style, it was present but in a mellow, non-distracting sort-of-way. Unsurprisingly, a fun pairing w/ marionberries from the garden.

2008 vintage

Excellent fruit but still holding some grippy tannins. Much too young. Has another 10-15 years.

2008 vintage

Very nice, but a bit flatter than the last bottle. Blackberry, vanilla oak, plum and leather. Long full-bodied finish.

2008 vintage

Drank super after 60-90 minutes.....from memory

1999 vintage

Consistent with previous tasting notes.

2008 vintage

Great persistence, hits on many cylinders, long lasting on the rear palette, followed by a ring all around the tongue. A bit fading overall, but still with some trancendance, drink now.

2008 vintage

Decanted both bottles through a Melitta coffee filter...no sediment!!! Really nice wine. Red fruit and some chocolate/coffee with a fantastic long finish. Love that I have four more bottles.

2008 vintage

Tannins really gone, but still fruity. Time to drink these up!

2008 vintage

Interestingly, upon popping open, this tasted exceptionally tight, undrinkable even. Poured an inch into a glass and let sit in the bottle for 3 hours and it transformed remarkably. Wound up opening a 2007 Sassacaia also after concern about the preliminary Maiden taste. What a difference in wines of comparable vintage… the shorter Sassacaia cork was 1/3 soaked and the Maiden’s barely past contact point. Bricking evident for the Sassicaia and dark consistent edges on Maiden. Once open for a …

2008 vintage

Really good wine. Red fruit and some chocolate/coffee with a fantastic long finish. I think this is at its peak now.

2008 vintage

Kleur: Diep donkerrood met een dunne rand. Aroma / bouquet: Stuivend bouquet, expressief geparfumeerd, boordevol rood en donker fruit met accenten van koffie, bittere chocola en zacht-zoete drop. Smaak / Afdronk: Stoere, krachtige en tegelijkertijd verleidelijke wijn. Dik-sappig met krachtige en korrelige tannines, tegelijkertijd zacht en lactisch met indrukken van yoghurt en karnemelk. Inkt-achtig, droppig en geconcentreerd, in een prachtige balans. Lange afdronk. Algemeen / potentieel: Indrukwekkende en serieus grootse wijn. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 …

2008 vintage

This ripe and layered Cabernet is drinking near its peak right now, with incredible fruit and complexity. Garnet in color and full in body, the wine offers inviting aromas of blackberry, mulberry, crimini mushroom, bay leaf, dried thyme, and worn leather. Flavors of black cherry, gravel, graphite, espresso bean, and baking chocolate (i.e., rich but not sweet), with integrated tannins and a finish that won’t stop (like one of those putts that just… keeps… going). 14.5% alcohol. No need for …

2008 vintage

Red currant, lead pencil, sweet oiled leather and deeply ripe black fruit on the nose. Dark, bold, velvety wine with subdued tannins and layers of fruit with a hint of vanilla & oak. Drank straight from the bottle without decanting - incredible wine that likely could go for a number of years. Really impressive wine at this time - anything under the Harlan umbrella should be sought out. Quite impressive with a Hawaiian NY strip.

1999 vintage

Decanted two hours. This is showing beautifully with pure, refined fruit and tannins, full body, firm tannins. These aren't a bargain any more but they are a remarkable second wine.

2008 vintage

Very deep garnet with purple hues. Clean nose of pronounced intensity, aromas of cooked black cherry, fennel, chocolate, toast, prunes, cured meat, mushrooms. Fully developed wine. Palate: dry, medium plus acidity, very smooth yet powerful tannins, medium alcohol, full body, pronounced flavors that match aromas: cooked black fruit, earth, leather, tar, chocolate, prunes. Finish is long, powerful and satisfying with a great mouthfeel. Very good wine to enjoy now or can be aged for 5-7 years more

2008 vintage

Popped open the bottle I have Coravine’d 1.5 years ago. Brown sugar aroma upon removing the cork. Double decanted and let it aired out for approx 5 hours. This wine has not moved at all in 1.5 years. Similar notes as last my last entry.

2008 vintage

It's Friday, January 3, and I can still taste this wine. I have thought about this wine for the last 3 days ... and probably will for the rest of time. I have no option but to raise its score. To put it simply, this was the most exquisite wine that we drank in 2019 and we have been lucky enough to have had some great wines. It was bold, expressive, multi-layered, beautifully balanced. explosive in the mouth and with …

1999 vintage

KYCellar December 2019 Tasting (HK) : Red bramble berry and redcurrant jam, grainy spice and sweet cinnamon stick. Tight-knit and structured with opulent fruit and vanilla toast. 94+

2008 vintage

Consistent with previous tasting note; this wine hasn't budged at all.

2008 vintage

WIML93 Tasted non blind. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of aspirin, tobacco, spice box and black berries. Flavors of red berries, cherries and raspberries. Medium acidity, medium tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold.

2008 vintage

Very good bottle. Not decanted, but opened and enjoyed over 3+ hours. It could have used more air exposure though, as it was still evolving when it was finished. Very, very little sediment which was surprising.

2008 vintage

Excellent bottle. Great drinking shape right now. See previous note for description.

2008 vintage

This wine was kind of in a weird place, and I'm not sure if we just didn't give this one enough time to come around or maybe a little bit of bottle variation. The 07 I enjoyed a little over a year ago seemed to be a lot more fruit forward and dense, whereas this one definitely did seem to have a medium-to-full bodied black fruit density to it. It also seemed a bit vegetal. A bit of green pepper …

1999 vintage

we decanted for two hours then had to wait another 2 soft yet a hint of bitter

1999 vintage

Consistent with previous note.

2008 vintage

Beautiful bottle. WOTN at a recent get together with my wine friends.

2008 vintage

Drinking excellent. Was a Coravined bottle originally. Has held up very well. Dark black look to it with a jammy nose to it. Lots of dark red fruit in the mouth and a bit of cedar tobacco feel to the wine. Very nice experience!

2008 vintage

Coravin’ed few ounces and sampled for the next 4-5 hours. Gobs of fruits, strong acid and stiff tannins. Nose and palate opened up a notched each hour, built a crescendo of hope that it’ll be great that day, but stayed fairly primary for the most part. Scent of red and black fruits never really developed to any secondary notes. The palate faired better with graphite, espresso and bitter chocolate. My hope is that this is still too young to drink.

2008 vintage

2/18 Young but approachable - back loaded with broad deep dark chocolate tannins and balanced black cherry blackberry front. 93 pts.

2008 vintage

Very similar notes as last tasting 12 months ago. It hasn't lost anything since then, but there's no benefit from waiting any further. It is drinking very well now.

1999 vintage

Had at an amazing wine tasting. I have tasted Harlen a number of times and this was on a par with any of them at a fraction of the price. Drinking excellent even though I only had a small pour.

1999 vintage

Each of the four bottles of Maiden I've tasted (all different vintages) have been spectacularly different. This one tasted very much like a cult cab with licorice and deep black extraction. It needed an hour in the decanter to open up, then yielded up its deliciousness. To my great surprise, I sipped the last half-glass along with dessert of a Christmas-spiced sorbet and it paired amazingly well!

2008 vintage

Sexy. That's about all I can say.

1999 vintage

Not as complex as the estate wine, but a well balanced, elegant wine with blackberries, black cherries, licorice, earthiness, and a hint of mint in the nose. Black cherries, currants, and plums in the flavor. Medium to long finish.

1999 vintage

Decanted two hours, returned to bottle and drank over another two hours. Restrained but beautiful nose. Elegant, integrated palate with delicious fruit, somewhat restrained but the concentration amplified over the course of two hours. I would say this is drinking perfectly right now. Much more elegant than the 2000 I had a few months ago. Thoroughly enjoyable birthday wine.

1999 vintage

Dinner at S and A's house (Freeman Bay, Auckland, New Zealand) : Intense, and hyper-ripe cabernet, but still very much recognisable as a Napa wine, albeit in a cult style. Volatile, in the Harlan manner, and possessing thick tannins. The wine skirts with being ungainly but is enlivened by the lifted nature of the nose and robust proportion. Exquisite cassis notes are a special feature of the nose, while the mocha flavours are quite delicious. This particular bottle showed a …

1999 vintage

Firing on all cylinders. Big black fruit and cedar on the nose, more sweet black fruit on the palate, finishes with present but so soft and lovely tannin. Wish I had more.

1999 vintage

Yowza. Haven't had a California oozemonster in quite some time. This is of that ripe, very dark, very concentrated, liqueur-like California Cab style, but it's really not all that bad because it does have a sense of proportion and restraint, perhaps from years in the cellar. Perhaps that cellaring has also tamed whatever oak this wine may have seen, because it does not come across as oaky. Not my style of wine at all, and yet it could have been …

1999 vintage

Impressive wine. The fruit was spectacular. The tannins were so soft, silky and integrated. Lush, delicious and chewy are some of the words that come to mind.

1999 vintage

This was simply amazing and drinking quite beautifully. Fruit is still luscious with a great backbone.

1999 vintage

Opened at Azeen's Afghani Cuisine in Pasadena, CA on 12/3/14. Drank with chicken and lamb kabobs, fried eggplant, various Afghani style dumplings and other Afghani delicacies served with yogurt sauce on the side. This bottle was almost undrinkable for the first hour after opening and then most of my party agreed it improved, but still fell short of expectations we had for a Harlan. I saved 1/3 of the bottle to see if it would benefit from another 24 hours …

1999 vintage

Still going strong, 15 months after my last bottle. 3hr decant prior to serving took some edge off. Showed quite well with dark stone fruit and pretty smooth tannin.

1999 vintage

Wonderful bouquet of rich dark fruits. Velvety, sophisticated, black, deep sweet fruit buttressed with iron and graphite. At its zenith. Some might say it is at the end of its long evolution but would guess its will drink very well for another 5-7 years. Very hedonistic.

1999 vintage

If I'm going to score this wine for its bouquet only, this is a 99 pt wine. The nose was muted at first, but opened up after a 2-hour decant to loads of dark chocolate, forest floor and black fruits...just wonderful scent. I couldn't stop smelling my glass at Spago's for my wife's bday dinner.

1999 vintage

Full bodied. Boysenberry, licorice, cocoa, graphite. Well balanced. No heat.

1999 vintage

Give it 2hrs to decant, then enjoy the 30+ second finish. Surprisingly still quite a bit of heat, but that subsides after some time.

1999 vintage

Despite its age, still has plenty of time to go, with us drinking over two nights, and the second night being when it showed the most (though drinkable the first, likely with food). Huge nose of cocoa powder... to the point that there wasn't one person who didn't pick that up. The initial dark/semisweet chocolate coating leading to cherries and a little bourbon (so basically a dark chocolate covered cherry cordial). Tons of depth and finish, particularly once it balanced …

1999 vintage

USA Cabernet Masterclass (Rockpool Bar and Grill Sydney) : Nose: blackerry jelly lumps! Super concentrated. Toasted oak and tobacco. perhaps even a yeasty vegetal quality. Huge. Mouth: The blackberry is so concentrated that it is almost savoury and has chocolate as well, very plain chocolate (85% cocoa). Mouth puckering tannin. Tastes like a barrel sample. Medium plus alcohol and acidity. Finishes long but very hot. Too much.

1999 vintage

The wine shows subtle, nuanced aromatics that combine youthful and mature notes. The color is a dark ruby that is correct for the wines age. The medium/full bodied palate shows outstanding balance at the beginning with dominating tannins on the lengthy finish. If the tannins recede with additional bottle age, this has the potential to for further improvement.

1999 vintage

A day at Harlan trying every vintage of the Maiden ever made (Harlan winery, Oakville, CA) : My favorite of '95-'07 Maidens. A step up in decadent sweet oozing chocolate covered cherry. GM and winemaker loved how this was showing today. They called '99 a "B- vintage" but punching above its weight now for sure.

1999 vintage

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Harlan Estate, The Maiden, Napa Valley

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