Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Matriarch often measures up to the level of BOND and Harlan Estate itself. It is a blend of various BOND components. The '06 is a classically structured Napa blend, fat and flashy in youth, offering complex waves of blackberry and cherry tart, black currant, cola, licorice and sweet, spicy oak. There’s a savory meatiness reminiscent of salty bacon. But the tannins are significant.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Starting with the Matriarch, this wine is the easiest to drink young. Dark plum/purple, with plenty of smoke, black currants, espresso roast, oak, and chocolate, the 2006 is dense, round, and best drunk over the next decade.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.