Classy earth, oak and bay-leaf character on the nose, together with dark fruit, such as currants and blackberries. Forest flowers, too. Full-to medium-bodied, linear and tight with coolness and freshness. Mint and spearmint to the dark fruit. Lasts a long time. Such balance and intensity. Tight now, but great energy and length this year. Incredibly sophisticated and seductive. A joy to taste now, but try in 2025.

The 2018 Harlan Estate is deep purple-black colored. The nose slowly unfurls to offer fragrant floral notes of roses and lilacs with hints of cinnamon and cumin seed over a core of plum preserves, star anise, cedar chest, and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has firm, exquisitely ripe tannins and fantastic tension, supporting the many tightly wound black fruits, floral, and exotic spice layers, finishing with an epically long, lingering, and wonderfully nuanced perfume. This elegant, sophisticated, cerebral face of Harlan is something of a departure from its rich, hedonic reputation, which I also love. But, got to hand it to the next-gen team, this is simply stunning. Bravo! (LPB)

The 2018 Harlan Estate was tasted as a barrel sample, to be bottled in March. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a fair bit of swirling to reveal a wonderfully fragrant perfume of blueberry pie, chocolate-covered cherries, mulberries and black currant pastilles with hints of cumin seed, rose oil and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, the taut, grainy-textured palate delivers remarkable energy with compelling tension and a long, graceful, earth-laced finish. (LPB)