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“Cult Cabernet”
- The very phrase suggests something
mysterious, decadent, vaguely sinister but at the same time curiously
inviting. To indulge in such wines is to feel like the member of a club
that, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, is too good to have me as a member. I
have long enjoyed California cabernet and have collected some good ones
over the past 30 years. But I have never really played in the cult
cabernet playground, depending instead on the kindness of friends for
the occasional taste of these rare and expensive wines. Screaming Eagle
is certainly the ultimate “cult” cabernet, but not far behind is Harlan
Estate, a wine that many feel is equal to, or perhaps even better than,
the legendary Eagle. So when the opportunity arose to be invited to a
“Harlan vertical” tasting, I jumped at
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Starters: CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO OF THE DINNER TABLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My notes on the wines follow. [No, I didn’t take notes on the steaks,
although my favorites were the Lobel’s and the Niman Ranch, with
the genuine Kobe beef from Japan so rich and decadent it almost
shouldn’t be called “steak”.] I should say at the outset that my
perceptions on many of the wines were somewhat different from many of
the attendees. I tended to favor the less ripe and older wines more so
than many of the others. I think there are a couple of reasons for this.
First of all, I prefer older, more mature wines generally. A bigger
factor, however, is that I am highly intolerant of both volatile acidity
(VA), and raisiny/porty flavors in cabernet, and many of the wines that
were loved by others were marked down by me for having these
characteristics. Those with a higher tolerance for ripe flavors, VA, and
low acidity would probably enjoy some of the wines I criticized more
than I did.
Flight 3: This flight featured 2 vintages (’01 and ’02) of each of the
three Bond wines (St. Eden, Vecina, and Melbury). I have never tasted
any wines from this producer, and they seem to get less comment on the
boards than many of the other “cults”, so I was curious. Given that the
Harlan/Levy team is running the show here, and the fact that I enjoyed
the Matriarch’s quite a bit, I found less consistency that I was
expecting in the “big Bonds”, as I thought the wines were all over the
map. Among the 2001 wines, my favorite was the Melbury
Find This Wine.
Blackberry/licorice nose, beautifully balanced and quite elegant, yet
not lacking in intensity, not as dense as many of the other Bonds, and
better for it in my opinion. The St. Eden
Find This Wine was almost as good, but was
riper, just stopping short of creeping into overripe territory; a bit
hot but very rich and long with a great finish. The Vecina
Find This Wine was even more
extracted and tannic, seemed rather closed, but the fruit lacked
sweetness and showed a touch of bitterness. Among the 2002’s, my top
wine was the St. Eden
Find This Wine which was quite ripe but not raisiny, and was
about as extracted as I would want without going over the top. It
retained that essential sweetness of fruit that too many overripe wines
lack. The Vecina
Find This Wine was very attractive on the nose, with a hint of mint
along with the blackberry, but was very dense and heavy-handed and the
fruit seemed dulled by the extraction. The Melbury
Find This Wine was very dense, ripe
extracted, tannic and hot, with the fruit submerged under the ripeness
and extraction. Maybe time will help, but it seems a gamble.
Bennett Traub
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BACK TO BENNETT TRAUB'S INDEX PAGE © October 2007
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the chance. Since I am not on the
Harlan list and have none in my cellar, I could not contribute a bottle
of Harlan as most of the participants were doing. But thanks to the
kindness of host Steve Elzer
(right, with Marshall Gelb), I was able to trade my way in, as
thankfully Steve is lacking in 1982 Bordeaux [g]. I also offered to
bring a 1963 Fonseca to cap off the evening. So last Saturday I made my
way into the wilds of northern LA County to Steve’s home (which
thankfully was unaffected by the recent wildfire disaster here), where
13 others and I would gather to “do” the Harlan’s.
White Flight: Maybe it was the smells emanating from the nearby kitchen,
but most of the white wines seemed quite subdued in their aromas. Both
the 2002 Marcassin “Marcassin Vineyard” and the 2002 Peter Michael
“Cuvée Ingigene” were corked, the Marcassin slightly, and the Peter
Michael more severely. As a result Steve opened the bonus 2002 Marcassin “Three Sisters”,
which was rich, creamy, smelling and tasting strongly of oak, but with
adequate acidity for balance, and a long oaky finish. Very good, but a
bit too oaky for my taste
Flight 1: This flight featured 5 vintages of Harlan’s “second” wine,
The
Maiden. Stylistically they seemed fairly close to the Harlan’s that
followed later in the evening, with just a bit less intensity and
richness, and probably less aging potential. They were also much less
consistent. Unlike most of the participants in the dinner, I enjoyed the
1995 quite a bit, thus pretty much destroying my credibility right off
the bat [g]. What I enjoyed was the wonderful Bordeaux-like nose, which
exploded out of the glass with classic cigar box and lead pencil
complexity. Yes, the palate was thinner than the remaining wines, and as
it aired a metallic quality began to emerge. Many at the table thought
the wine was flawed, but I think it is simply getting near the end of
its life. Regardless, I was prepared to give up some fruit on the palate
to get that great aroma. The rest of the group hated the wine and
thought it was either flawed or dead. The 1997 also generated differing
opinions, with many loving the wine’s richness. To me and a couple of
others, however, the wine reeked of volatile acidity (VA) and was overly
port-like and raisiny. I have a very low tolerance for VA, so those who
don’t mind it as much found a lot to like in the wine. The 2000 seemed
pretty subdued and simple by comparison with the first two wines, a bit
softer with medium ripeness and much less intensity of flavors, but a
nice drink that was well-balanced and would probably be very enjoyable
on its own. The 2001 was my wine of the flight, with ripe but not
overripe chocolate cherries and black currant fruit, excellent balance
with great acid and smooth tannins, very long, just a classic California
cabernet. The 2002 ramped up the ripeness considerably, and to me showed
a bit of the VA and port-like characteristics I dislike, although much
less than the ’97. Thick and extracted, the wine needs more acid, IMO,
and seemed flat on the finish.
Flight 2: This short flight featured 3 vintages of Bond’s second wine,
“The Matriarch.” Like Harlan Estate, Bond is a project of owner Bill
Harlan and winemaker Bob Levy from three specific vineyards around Napa
(a fourth vineyard was added for 2003). Lots that don’t make the
vineyard designated wines (tasted in Flight 3) are used for The
Matriarch. I really enjoyed these, despite their status as “second”
wines. The 1999 was pretty ripe, almost raisiny, but stops just short of
overripe. Very rich with a touch of heat, there is great fruit intensity
and ripe fruit flavors supported by decent acidity and firm tannins.
Seems fairly open for a 1999 and does not have the surliness that many
1999’s seem to suffer from. Even better was the 2000, which was
beautifully balanced with sweet fruit of moderate intensity and very
good ripeness. One of the best 2000 vintage California cabs I have
tasted. The 2001 was riper and much more intense, but still avoided
port-like qualities, although the wine seemed pretty extracted and
dense. The balance is there for long aging, though, and I think this
wine will be terrific in about 5 years.
Flight 5:
The “middle aged” Harlan flight. The 1994 was simply
fantastic, a strong contender for my wine of the night. Gorgeous nose
with amazing fruit and complexity, very forthcoming. The palate is
classic California Cabernet at its best, with very deep, ripe, but not
overripe fruit that was endlessly deep and rich. Perfectly balanced
acidity and smooth tannins fully wrapped in the wine’s inherent
richness, incredibly long finish. Others at the table thought the wine
was great, but not as good as other 1994’s they had tasted. Hard to
believe for me, as I thought the wine was truly great as it is. The 1995
was equally intense and dense in richness, but had just a touch of
overripe/raisiny elements that placed it below the 1994 for me. A softer
wine, less acidity to balance the immense fruit, certainly very good,
but the 1994 is a tough act to
follow. On the other hand, the
1996 was
just delightful despite being a much less dense and rich wine than the
1994. I found it extremely elegant and round, with sweet fruit perfectly
balanced by taut acidity, very complex and showing more development of
secondary flavors than the two older wines in the flight. This seems
perfectly mature for drinking now, but should hold for a long time
because the balance is so good. Of the two non-Harlan wines in the
flight, the 1994 Bryant Family 
Flight 7: The recent Harlan vintages, plus a couple of “wanna be” cults.
I loved the 2001 Harlan, which tastes like a younger version of the
classic 1994. Perfectly ripe and very rich with incredibly deep fruit of
black currants, licorice, cedar and chocolate, with endless length. This
will last a long, long time. The 2002, however, was too ripe and
port-like for my taste with very low acid. The structure is provided by
the substantial tannins, which are ripe, but I wonder if there’s enough
acidity for the long haul, as for me the wine lacks the balance the 2001
has. I liked the 2003 better, as it is ripe but does not show the raisiny elements I dislike so much. Very young and tight now, there is a
rich creaminess to the fruit that is very attractive, and the balancing
acidity is there to support the time in the cellar that the wine clearly
needs. All of the Harlan’s, however, were markedly superior to the
“wanna be’s” that followed. The 2004 Scarecrow 
saw its wine’s
price ascend to hysterical levels on the secondary market following
Parker’s 98 point review) was open, very ripe and soft, but with a
distinct dill element in the aroma. The herbaceousness is prominent on
the palate, and the wine is very soft, flabby, hot and isn’t going
anywhere good. The 2002 Sloan 
Flight 8:
Here it is, Screaming Eagle, 
to allow the
complexity to develop, cassis, black currant, hint of tobacco, creamy
richness, very long. Even more impressive was the 2001, which is
probably tied with the 1994 Harlan for my wine of the night. Even more
intense and rich than the ’96, but with impeccable balance and great
depth, cigar box scents combined with complex herbs and a combination of
red and black fruits, very deep and long. Still a baby and with years of
life ahead of it, this is amazing California cabernet. Screaming Eagle’s
new owner, Charles Banks (right), stated that the 2002 is his ideal of what
Screaming Eagle will be under his guidance. The 2002 is riper than the
2001, and a bit richer, too, but still stops short of overripe or
over-extracted. A bit more closed than the 2001 at this point, the wine
is fully packed with rich, deep fruit but has great balance of acids and
tannins that promises a very long and favorable development in bottle.
This may ultimately surpass the 2001, but needs plenty of time. 
