2000 The Maiden

On my annual visit to Harlan Estate, I was struck by the way this producer's flagship wine tracked vintages 1999, 2000 and 2001 in style: the 1999 showing great verve and a tightly coiled structure; the 2000 very suave but smaller-scaled than '99 or '01; and the 2001 a wine of monumental richness and sweetness of fruit without going over the top. Not surprisingly, all three wines are among California's elite examples from their respective vintages.

The key to the success of this estate may be owner Bill Harlan's unhurried approach to making great wine. Although the Harlan Estate red wine appeared to some to have been an overnight sensation when the first vintage (1990) was released back in 1996, Harlan and his team had already vinified nine or ten crops from his hillside site above Oakville. And the core team of Harlan, winemaker Bob Levy, vineyard manager Jerry Schlink and director Don Weaver had been together since 1985 (Michel Rolland has consulted here since 1989). Harlan Estate's newest project, involving a half-dozen hillside vineyards stretching from Oakville to St. Helena, actually dates back to the early '90s. As of this March, Harlan planned to release one or more vintages of wine from at least two of these properties in 2003, using proprietary names to give him the flexibility to include a small percentage of fruit from outside the core vineyard if it will result in an even better wine.