2004 Harlan Estate The Maiden- USA, California, Napa Valley (11/8/2014)
– decanted for approx. 30 min. before tasting –
– tasted a single pour non-blind over approx. 1 hour –
Smelled awesome, tasted o.k… Nose came across as half Bdx. half CA — very ripe black cherry and blackberry aromas; pronounced pencil lead note, too. On the palate, this was annoyingly oaky, and softer than I would hope for at this age. Perhaps a touch riper than I’d prefer, but more than anything else it was the heavy oak that left me wanting here. Between the good balance and the killer Nose, I do think it’s reasonable to hope for a brighter future for this wine. Hold.
Sorry to hear this Brian. I still have two of the '05’s. The one I opened three years ago was fabulous to me then. I hope it was a vintage thing. You coming to any events anytime soon?
Hi Bruce, I hope to make it to an event soon, but having a toddler makes it a lot harder for me to do that than it used to be. Every once in a while, I’m sure I’ll find myself with the opportunity to get out and join in some cork pulling.
As for this wine — I can’t say, really, if it’s a vintage thing. Most likely, it’s a personal preferences thing. Oddly enough, this exact wine was the first wine that convinced me that expensive wine is sometimes “worth it”; that was many years ago, and my palate has gravitated away from big/lush wines somewhat. I don’t think it’s a bad wine, per se, I’m just not sure it’s my preferred style.
I have a 04 Harlan Estate I’d like to drink but from all the TNs I’ve read it looks like I have plenty of time. I would expect more from that 04 Maiden; I just looked at notes on CT and the most current notes paint a similar experience to yours. I saw your note and the one below it was harsh. I sorted the notes by highest score and it looks like this was a different wine in 2012, you might have missed the window?
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