1994 Harlan Estate, Napa Valley, Magnum (1.5L)

RP100 "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 exquisite 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-scaled 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." RP Dec 1997

No compromises are made in producing this dazzling wine. Proprietor Bill Harlan, assisted by his winemaker, Bob Levy, and consulting oenologist, France's Michel Rolland, have turned out a wine of exquisite richness and complexity. The wine offers the intensity one expects from a top California Cabernet-based wine, yet it incorporates a sense of grace, complexity, and elegance that clearly places it in the top echelon of California wines. ... The wine, which is reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of a great California Cabernet and equal parts La Mission-Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, and Mouton-Rothschild, is a must purchase for those with the requisite discretionary income and ability to track down a few bottles of this knock-out wine.