Harlan Estate. We had been looking forward to visiting Harlan Estate for some time. This was one of our special visits on this project; it was the 600th review of an active winery/producer to appear on this site. And remarkably, we have since more than doubled this number with over 1,200 unique Napa Valley wineries/producers personally visited, tasted with and extensively profiled on this site.
We chose Harlan Estate for this milestone visit because of their well-regarded reputation for quality, the instant name recognition and because of Mr. Harlan’s unique personal contributions, influence and history in Napa Valley over the past 40+ years. Nearly all of our tastings are done solo, but for this one, our brother, who lives in Verona, Italy and was married in the 12th century Palazzo della Ragione in that city, accompanied us on our visit. We mention that random personalized information because Bill and his wife were also married in a 12th century building in Verona. Perhaps it was the same place.
One should write a book called The Life & Times of Bill Harlan; he is one of Napa Valley’s great personalities. Bill is one of three brothers including Frank, a stock car racer who set a speed record for a specific vehicle class at Bonneville Salt Flats in 2001 at 236 mph. Another brother Tom died in 1962 from a trucking accident while working for the meat packing company, E.B. Manning & Son in Pico Rivera. Bill was born in Pico Rivera, California near Los Angeles and was raised in Whittier. His father, William Harlan (wife, Millie) worked as a sales manager for 46 years for E.B. Manning & Son; one of the plant’s clients was Don Nixon (President Richard Nixon’s brother) who owned restaurants and whose father Francis Nixon had founded Nixon’s Grocery in 1922.
Harlan graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1963 with a degree in communications and public policy. A risk taker and never one to fit the mold, in the years after graduation he spent a year traveling around Africa including by hitchhiking, sold life insurance, learned to fly, crewed on a boat, raced motorcycles, became a stock broker and played plenty of poker.
His first introduction to Napa Valley was in 1958 during his freshman year at UC Berkeley; he began regularly visiting a year later with college dates on weekend getaways. Lured by the natural beauty, free wine tastings and eventually by the potential for growing wine grapes his visits became more frequent. His passion for wine started in his teens. Mr. Harlan visited Robert Mondavi winery during its opening week in 1966 at age 26; by this time was already nurturing a dream of owning his own wine estate, although perhaps he didn’t realize at the time, that Robert Mondavi Winery would one day be one of his ‘neighbors’.
Before his involvement in Napa Valley, in 1973 Harlan began investing in real estate in Lake Tahoe. He and his business partner Peter Stocker founded Pacific Union Land Company in 1975, with an initial focus of selling condominiums and developing condominium projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their first project involved converting what was the Watergate Complex in Emeryville from rental units to apartments.
Tragically, Stocker died in a helicopter crash involving a power line at age 46 in 1990; the pilot was able to walk away after the crash. The accident occurred on the 20,000 acre Carmel Valley Ranch that Pacific Union had purchased only three months prior to Stocker’s death.
An integral part of the company was the Lene Marie, a ketch-rigged tall ship built in Denmark in 1910 which was used for hauling coal. It sank in the Baltic Sea during World War II. But then it was raised after the war and restored, eventually making its way to San Francisco during the 1960s. Pacific Union Land Company purchased this ship in 1976 from where it was being berthed in Sausalito, and again restored it.
Starting in 1980 it was permanently crewed and continuously sailed around the world where it was used to entertain clients, employees, family and friends, all who would join at various ports around the planet. The 8 year sail spanning 140,000 kilometers ended when it returned to San Francisco in 1988. Unfortunately it again sunk in 1996 during a storm on a sail between New York to Bermuda and has never been raised.
A friend from childhood, John Montgomery joined the company in 1978 as partner and was CEO until he retired in 2010. Pacific Union is still very much active, now known as Pacific Union Partners, based in Danville and focuses on land, residential, self-storage and commercial development. More recently, the company has built a number of high-end private residences in Napa Valley. And also in Napa Valley the company used to own Chardonnay Golf Course now under ownership of the Gianulias family (owners of Napa Valley’s Levendi Winery), The Napa Valley Gateway Industrial Park and they developed and expanded an existing resort called Meadowood near St. Helena. Incidentally Harlan’s first property acquisition in Napa Valley was Meadowood in 1979 with Pacific Union Company as the owner of record.
Meadowood was proposed in 1961 by developer Freeman Nicholls; he owned a home at the time near St. Helena and was also president of Pla-Vada Development Corporation which developed the still existing PlaVada Woodlands, a community association located next to interstate 80 near Donner Pass in the the Sierra Nevada mountains. At the time the total investment in building both private housing and recreational facilities at Meadowood were 20 million USD. It was then known as the Meadowood Suburban Club, or simply referred to as Meadowood. The initial construction occurred over the span of several years in the early 1960s; by summer 1964 the resort was already hosting a variety of events. The golf course opened for the first time on May 23, 1965. From the beginning it was known as an exclusive resort, a characteristic that is still very much a part of contemporary Meadowood.
For decades, Meadowood was home to Auction Napa Valley, one of the country’s largest charity wine auctions, held the first week of every June. Harlan was on the planning committee for the very first auction hosted in 1981. Until being destroyed by the 2020 Glass Fire, the Restaurant at Meadowood was one of two three-star Michelin restaurants in Napa Valley – the other being the French Laundry.
Today Harlan co-owns Meadowood with Stan Kroenke, the proprietor of Napa Valley’s Screaming Eagle Winery, California’s central coast based Jonata and The Hilt and a number of sports teams. Of all the premium resorts and places to stay in Napa Valley, Meadowood is always our number one recommended choice.
1980 was a watermark year in Harlan’s life. He traveled to Europe with other Napa Valley vintners and visited some of the great estates in Burgundy and Bordeaux all the while taking copious notes. He fell in love with Bordeaux and was impressed with the quality and consistency of the wines from those estates. He later made numerous other trips to Europe, primarily to France and Italy including visiting with the Frescobaldi family and the Antinori family, now in their 27th generation of running their wine business.
Inspired by his European trip, Harlan created a 200 year plan, a long-term vision and culture to create a lasting wine legacy. This philosophy is structured after chateaus in Bordeaux and domaines in Burgundy which continue producing despite generational changes in family ownership. And this plan not only takes into account ownership, but also stewardship for the lands under the ‘Harlan domaine’, protecting property under their ownership and sustainably farming.
In 1986 Harlan married Deborah (Beck), a former spokeswoman in TV commercials including for Lipton Tea. Behind the scenes and a fiercely supportive partner, she is never credited enough for the company’s success. Also in 1986, Harlan along with partners John Montgomery, Peter Stocker and Robin Lail, purchased Sunny St. Helena Winery (now Merryvale). This year was the first harvest at Sunny St. Helena since 1970 as the space had been used for storing and aging wines from 1971 through 1985. See our notes under Merryvale on this site for more details.
Harlan Estate has been built around a great vineyard site, but also, just as equally important, Bill Harlan has attracted some of the brightest individuals to his team, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. It was during his time overseeing Merryvale that Harlan met three men who would be very instrumental as he developed his various properties in the valley: Don Weaver who later became the General Manager of Harlan Estate, winemaker Bob Levy and consulting winemaker Michel Rolland.
The first vintages of Harlan Estate were produced at Merryvale Winery in St. Helena until their own winery was completed in time for the 1997 harvest. Winemaker Martha McClellan worked on making some of the early vintages of Harlan Estate (1995-2000), initially at Merryvale Vineyards and then transitioned to Harlan Estate once the winery was built. Harlan sold his interest in Merryvale in the mid 1990s.
Not to be outdone is Napa Valley’s most exclusive “wine club”, the Napa Valley Reserve which was also started by Bill Harlan. Located adjacent to Meadowood this exclusive invitation only wine club includes access to a top winemaking team, specially produced private-label wine, use of facilities, special events, travels, and educational events. The initiation fee at the time of our most recent update to this review runs approximately $165,000. We have a separate profile on the Napa Valley Reserve on this website.
In 2020 Harlan ‘retired’ from the day to day oversight of his various holdings and passed the torch to his son Will Harlan who is now the managing director of the Harlan estate properties.
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Harlan purchased the original land to eventually become Harlan Estate in 1984; at that time, despite being 40+ years ago, the property was completely forested and covered with native vegetation. The original purchase was 6 acres; this has grown to 240 acres today with 40 acres under vine. Mr. Harlan had the foresight and vision to turn this hillside acreage into a world class “first growth” vineyard of Napa Valley.
While Harlan’s own property had never before been developed to vineyards, nearby parts of Oakville certainly had proven terroir including To Kalon Vineyard and Martha’s Vineyard. Oakville has been called “the tenderloin of Napa Valley” and for good reasons; with such diversity in soils, climates and exposures across a rather narrow band in the valley, this slice of the valley has certainly attracted some of Napa’s most premium producers.
The property is meticulously maintained. The vines were originally planted by David Abreu and overseen for 15 years; his role today is more of a consultant with noted viticulturist Mary Maher handling the in-house day to day vineyard management. Viticulture is in her blood; her father is Dick Maher, former president of Beringer Vineyards and her husband is noted viticulturist, Kelly Maher. The property elevation ranges from just above the valley floor at 150 feet to the high point at 1200 feet but vineyards are only planted between about 300 to 500 feet.
Harlan’s first “vintage” was 1987 but this was not released. Neither was the 88′ or the 89′. 1990 was their first released commercial vintage (very small production), and at a price point of $65 when it was released in 1996. This sounds affordable today, but was among the higher priced wines of that vintage from Napa Valley. The 1991 was also released simultaneously. Harlan was not in a hurry to push wine to market after purchasing the property. Mr. Harlan’s focus on Harlan Estate has always been a long term one – thinking out decades in the future.
For a winery with such instant name recognition, the entrance is very unassuming. The winery itself is nestled among native oaks and other vegetation on top of a small knoll. As they say at the winery, “we let the views do the heavy lifting around here”. Looking east one has vistas of the entire central part of Napa Valley including a panoramic view across Oakville.
The winery was designed by well-known architect Howard Backen (died 2024); he worked with Bill Harlan on various projects for many years. Backen’s wineries are built to be unobtrusive from the outside, but perhaps make a statement on the inside. He has designed a number of premium winery properties in Napa Valley including Ovid, Dana Estate and nearby Futo Estate.
The focus on quality is clearly evident when entering the winery. Cleanliness and aesthetics are key here. All barrels are perfectly lined in rows using a laser sight. They stay lined up until bottling; Harlan Estate does not rack the barrels. Nevertheless, this is a working winery and function is blended seamlessly with form.
Only perfectly ripe berries are allowed to begin fermentation using indigenous yeasts. The grapes are picked and carefully taken to the winery in small picking bins; the fruit then undergoes triage (triple sorting, cluster, de-stemmer and finally by hand). The wine is fermented in large oak open top casks which are used for 3 harvests and then traded out for new ones. From the fermentation room, the wine is gravity fed to the cellar below.
Bob Levy has been involved in the wine making side of the operations since day one (before Harlan he was involved at Merryvale) and was winemaker for many years until more recently. Today his role is Director of Winegrowing and Cory Empting has taken over as their full-time winemaker. All critical blending decisions are always made by the core Harlan team as well as flying French consulting winemaker Michel Rolland.
Select Wines
The 2020 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque in the glass with an amaranthine rim; the initial hit on the aromatics is floral including of violets, accompanied by a light note of sweet tobacco spice and cocoa powder, old cedar box, petrichor, dark olive and fruit scents of blackberry, cherry and plum. Not one aromatic attribute dominates on the bouquet. Superbly balanced across the palate, like the bouquet all its characters are harmoniously integrated. The palate offers flavors of dark plum, cherry and blackberry. The ripe tannins sport a persistent grainy, pixelated and savory grip, with their texture showing more on the front of the palate than the back. The savory and chewy finish features a persistent woodsy spice. Medium+ acidity. This is a handsome showing from an extremely challenging year.
The 2006 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red has simultaneous power and elegance; it is an intriguing and an intense wine filled with rich flavors and accompanying structure. Winemaker Bob Levy often likes to talk about “tannin development”, which is a critical part of their winemaking program. This vintage certainly has this but not in an overtly bold way – rather the tannins are integrated well in the wine’s finish. The 2006 is an intense, layered, and luscious wine on the palate. The elegant bouquet shows notes of sweet cassis, brown chocolate and darker fruits including cherry and blackberry. The finish is extremely long. This is a wine built to age, but we will not argue with anyone about drinking it now. An impressive showing.
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Harlan’s wine label is based off an interesting story. It was designed and is still printed by a private printing / engraving company who used to print the United States currency before the U.S. Treasury was established. The idea was to create a label that looked like an engraving for a bottle, that by itself was a piece of art.
Harlan produces a second wine called “The Maiden” crafted from barreled wines that do not make it into the Harlan Estate wine. This wine is led by Cabernet Sauvignon but with sizable percentages of Cabernet Franc and Merlot in the blend.
Surprisingly, Harlan has distribution in about 35 states and 30 countries – yet with a production of only 1800 cases and their price point, distribution is very selective. Locally one can find the wine at times, at several places in Napa Valley including part of a tasting at K.Laz in Yountville and at the Oakville Grocery and Oakville Wine Merchant. Harlan sells direct, but one must be on their mailing list. To join the waiting list, visit: www.harlanestate.com
When is the allocation time for the maiden tnx
Avedis – I believe the Maiden is allocated in spring, around March or April.
~ Dave