WINESPECTATOR: "Offers a core of rich dark berry, sour cherry, black licorice, loamy earth and dried berry flavors. Full-bodied, firmly tannic, yet deep and concentrated, almost too young in this tasting.--2002 California Cabernet blind retrospective (May 2012). Drink now through 2024. 1,248 cases made. — JL"
WINE ENTHUSIAST: "The aroma is deep and inviting, equal parts new oak, Cabernet fruit and dried herbs. Has tremendous weight, with red and black cherry, cola, chocolate, cassis and roasted coconut flavors. Brilliant now, virtually flawless and totally delicious, yet has the impeccable balance to age and even improve over the years. The listed price is its pre-release price. Drink now through at least 2020."
JANCIS ROBINSON: "Luxurious red velvet look with a deep brick rim. Extremely voluptuous and flattering – essence of Napa Valley and the richest form of Cabernet Sauvignon – obviously pretty alcoholic but reined in on the finish. Really caresses the palate. Round and rich. Fleshy and opulent. Positively slides over the palate with just a hint of tea leaves on the finish which keeps it refreshing. Harlan has arguably perfected the art of producing Napa Valley Cabernet that is nothing at all like red bordeaux but succeeds on its own terms."
ANTONIO GALLONI: "Deep medium ruby. Knockout nose combines black raspberry, blackberry, candied violet, licorice pastille, black pepper and a suggestion of dusty earth. Like a liquid confection in the mouth: thick and sweet yet almost magically shapely and fresh. The longest, most inexorably palate-staining wine of my tour of the North Coast in early March: this lost no strength in my mouth after I had spit it. Damn near close to perfect wine- only my own refusal to give a perfect score to a wine that's still a decade or more short of its peak kept my score down. Bill Harlan, incidentally, compares the 2002 vintage to the 1995, which is showing spectacularly today. (I was able to retaste the extraordinary 2001, which is perhaps even more classic than the 2002 if not quite as extravagantly thick, with slightly more roasted yet sappy aromas and flavors of crystallized berries, minerals, tar and licorice, and great inner-mouth energy and persistence. This very backward wine has the acid/tannin spine to evolve in bottle for 15 to 20 years. On my latest tasting I rated it 96(+?)."
THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Inky in color, from the looks of things, this could easily be a 2012 Harlan! Barbecue smoke, incense, blackberry liqueur, mocha, blue fruit and licorice gets things of to a good start. The wine is full bodied, incredibly concentrated, opulent, lushly textured and mouth coating. The fruit keeps on going with a finish that must last close to 60 seconds. Still youthful, with this much going in, I suspect, it is good for another 30 years. For those wondering if, and how, new California Cult wines will age, check this wine out at 16, and it is still a baby. Expensive, but if this California Cabs are your wheelhouse, this is a reference point wine."
FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, fester Kern, zarter Ockerrand. In der Nase attraktive Cassisfrucht, schwarzes Beerenkonfit, dazu ein Hauch von eingelegten Oliven, Eukalyptusanklänge, attraktives Bukett mit Anklängen von Minze und Edelholz. Am Gaumen eine superelegante Textur, extraktsüßer Körper, seidige, tragende Tannine, perfekte Balance, hat eine erste Trinkreife erreicht, bleibt minutenlang haften, wahres Gaumenkino."
THE WINEADVOCATE: "The extraordinary Harlan Estate, which I awarded 100 points seven years ago, offers no justifiable reason to doubt its perfect score. It is still a baby, with an inky purple color and notes of smoky camphor intermixed with creme de cassis, Asian soy and a hint of cedar beginning to emerge as well as some espresso and subtle damp forest floor notes. The wine has awesome intensity, a full-bodied mouthfeel, a skyscraper-like texture, and a finish that goes on for close to a minute. This is a perfect wine, still youthful and young, and not even in full adolescence as of 2012. It has 40 or more years ahead of it, but should hit its plateau of full maturity in another 5-10 years. It is certainly one of the most showy , flamboyant and remarkable Harlan Estates made to date. (More recently, the 2007 tends to resemble this wine more than any other vintage I can think of.) Kudos to Bill Harlan!"
