2002 Matriarch

Bill Harlan seems resigned to the fact that some California wine lovers inevitably are going to prefer certain Bond offerings to his Harlan Estate flagship wine."It's already being said on some wine web sites," he told me, suggesting that he's happy to live with multiple opinions on his wines, as long as they're positive.There is a fourth wine in the works under the Bond umbrella, from a vineyard on the lower slopes of SpringMountain (the first vintage is likely to be the 2003).Winemaker Bob Levy told me that 2001 was the least ripe of the 2001 to 2003 trio of vintages-or at least the 2001 wines show the widest range of ripeness."They need time," he asserts.The 2003 vintage was affected more by coulure and millerandage than by dehydration, with merlot affected the most, notes Levy.The winemaking team here, which also includes consultant Michel Rolland, likes 2002 for the quality of its tannins.Levy notes that the fruit was able to hang well past the heat spell of September and thus could be brought in in good conditions and with better balance.Long macerations are the rule here, as at Harlan Estate:45 days on the skins in 2002, and 50 or more in 2003.These are expensive but extraordinary wines, among the superstars of the NorthCoast.Production is up to about 7,000 cases in vintage 2003.