In Kuala Lumpur, Harlan Estate Showcased The Convergence Of Terroir And Vision In An Exceptional Wine

The story of Harlan Estate, the wine property and also the wine, began with H. William Harlan (known as Bill), a liberal arts major from the University of Berkeley, known to all as someone who lived life to the fullest. This joie de vivre would lead him to nearby Napa Valley on many occasions in the 1960s, where he developed a deep passion for wine. Following a successful real estate career (in which he built Pacific Union, one of California’s most successful property development firms), Harlan returned to wine-growing country with a firm conviction that he could make Napa Valley his home and put its wines on the world map.

As fate would have it, just as Harlan had purchased the Meadowood country club, he received a call from a certain Robert Mondavi, one of American wines’ leading characters. Mondavi proposed that Harlan undertake a five-week trip to France’s top wine regions in 1980, to walk among the vignerons. This exercise would profoundly impact Harlan’s understanding of what makes spectacular wine.

What came next was the outcome of a wisdom meeting opportunity. While the 1980s saw many wine producers buying the valley floor, Harlan bucked the trend, buying a hill in Oakville on Napa Valley’s west side to build tiered vineyards. This decision was informed by his time spent among Old World vineyards, where he had noticed that most of the grand crus and top wines in Burgundy and Piedmont originated from vineyards grown about three-quarters up the hill.

This conviction would be upheld, as the elevated location where Harlan Estate inhabits sits above the fog line, allowing the cooling mist to protect the grapes and helping the fruit to maintain its nice, soft, and thin skins to produce subtler tannins. Harlan, together with a team comprising Don Weaver as founding director and Bob Levy as founding winemaker, would see Harlan Estate come into being. Following two earlier vintages that were deemed by the trio to be below the exacting standards for a Harlan Estate release, the 1990 vintage—which eventually came into the market in 1996—would realise the potential of the vision of Harlan Estate, drawing comparisons to a Bordeaux grand cru.

Today, with his son Will Harlan as managing director of Harlan Estate, the story of the wine property and wine label is frequently referred to as California’s ‘First Growth’, and continues the traditions of the Bordeaux Left Bank First Growths instituted by its founders, such as the vein of its production: each grape is hand-selected, sorted, and de-stemmed before undergoing whole-berry fermentation with extended maceration.

Back in present-day Kuala Lumpur, Harlan Estate showed up at Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur’s private dining space, high above on level 98 of Merdeka 118—the world’s second-highest building. The dinner was organised by Bordeaux Liquid Gold’s Julian Poh, a distributor of rare and exclusive wines from both the Old and New Worlds—together with Harlan Estate. The latter was represented by the winery’s Asia Pacific general manager Bernice Cheng, who commented that this dinner was the highest-ever Harlan Estate wine dinner conducted.

Opening the proceedings, Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur’s executive chef Stig Drageide shared insights into the makings of a dinner menu paired with the Bordeaux-styled wine of Harlan Estate. “It’s a challenge, sometimes, and a wine like this deserves a piece of meat or steak as an accompaniment. This is why we start with braised beef cheeks in red wine, and Korean Kyoho grapes compressed with red wine for that fresh flavour”. Then came French winter chanterelles, black truffles, and foie gras in a chawanmushi topped with truffle foam. The mains featured Atlantic Cod with ponzu and beef jus, while the beef fillet was topped with red wine jus and served with a side of burnt leek and Pommes Anna.

The evening’s lineup of Harlan Estate featured four vintages: 2021, 2011, 2004, and the 1999. Guests at the Kuala Lumpur dinner were among the early ones worldwide to taste the current 2021 vintage, a warmer expression displaying emergent fresh, dark fruit across a palate that flashes with acidity and advancing to a sustained, tranquil finish. This finish owes its thanks to the heritage of older vines that exemplify the winery’s identity despite the vintage’s relative youth.

In 2011, born of a cool winter, heavier rains, and lower autumn temperatures, the resulting lowered yield and lower sugar challenged its winemaking. The outcome is best described as fresh and floral, exhibiting a nose of ripe blackberries, violets, green peppercorns, leather, mild, sweet, and earthy red peppers, coupled with hints of forest-floor and dried leaves. Its palate is juicier than what the nose might suggest, an umami supported by a slender, acidic backbone.

Early budbreak in the second half of March resulted in a 2004 vintage with a fairly low yield of 1.8 tonnes per acre. From this came a wine with a nose of roasted coffee, charcoal, and blackberry, segueing into bright cassis and black fruits. According to Cheng, the vintage’s sweet core fruit from a riper vintage was a “little glimpse of where the 2021 vintage could go”.

Anchoring the quartet was the cooler 1999. “This vintage is not one you see a lot; it came directly from the Harlan family cellar, so this is a very special night,” Cheng remarked. Aromas of black olive, tobacco leaf, spearmint, and black pepper hints gave way to balanced fruit and sweet layers swooping in mid-palate, concluding on a long, elegant finish.

Harlan Estate

Photography by Joshua Chay / The Spacemen

Videography by The Spacemen