The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Melbury (a dead ringer for Pauillac) has an opaque blue/purple color and an extraordinarily sweet nose of charcoal, lead pencil shavings, cedar wood, black currants, licorice and spice box. Full-bodied, with great intensity, purity and texture, this is a wonderfully dense, full-throttle wine that is still an adolescent and likely to stay one for at least another 5-7 years. Look for it to age gracefully well past 20-30+ years. As long-time readers know, this is the brainchild of Harlan Estate’s Bill Harlan, who has signed the owners of these well-placed vineyards in selected micro-climates in Napa Valley to long (quarter of a century) contracts. In the first decade, he has expanded the number of vineyard holdings to five separate wines in 2011, all made by the Harlan Estate winemaking team of Bob Levy and consulting oenologist Michel Rolland. There were only three cuvees in 2001 – from an 11-acre site on the western Oakville hillsides near Harlan Estate, the Vecina, St. Eden, an 11-acre stony knoll north of the Oakville Crossroad with a northern exposure, and from the steep slopes just north of Lake Hennessy with an eastern and southeastern exposure, east of Rutherford, the Melbury. Since these fabulous 2001s were made, two other great vineyards have been added to the Bond portfolio. These are Quella, which is a 9 acre vineyard in the eastern hills of northern Napa Valley, planted on white volcanic ash called Tufa, and Pluribus, which is a high elevation vineyard planted on steep slopes of Spring Mountain with a northern and easterly exposure. All three 2001s showed phenomenally, and are still very young wines, with at least 15 to 20 more years of upside potential. In fact, in a cold cellar these wines probably have 40 or more years of aging potential, but few of us will be able to wait that long to see how they taste.

The 2001 Melbury (a dead ringer for Pauillac) has an opaque blue/purple color and an extraordinarily sweet nose of charcoal, lead pencil shavings, cedarwood, blackcurrants, licorice and spice box. Full-bodied, with great intensity, purity and texture, this is a wonderfully dense, full-throttle wine that is still an adolescent and likely to stay one for at least another 5-7 years. Look for it to age gracefully well past 20-30+ years. As long-time readers know, this is the brainchild of Harlan Estate’s Bill Harlan, who has signed the owners of these well-placed vineyards in selected microclimates in Napa Valley to long (quarter of a century) contracts. In the first decade, he has expanded the number of vineyard holdings to five separate wines in 2011, all made by the Harlan Estate winemaking team of Bob Levy and consulting enologist Michel Rolland. There were only three cuvees in 2001—from an 11-acre site on the western Oakville hillsides near Harlan Estate, the Vecina, St. Eden, an 11-acre stony knoll north of the Oakville Crossroad with a northern exposure, and from the steep slopes just north of Lake Hennessy with an eastern and southeastern exposure, east of Rutherford, the Melbury. Since these fabulous 2001s were made, two other great vineyards have been added to the Bond portfolio. These are Quella, which is a nine-acre vineyard in the eastern hills of northern Napa Valley, planted on white volcanic ash called Tufa, and Pluribus, which is a high-elevation vineyard planted on steep slopes of Spring Mountain with a northern and easterly exposure. All three 2001s showed phenomenally and are still very young wines, with at least 15 to 20 more years of upside potential. In fact, in a cold cellar, these wines probably have 40 or more years of aging potential, but few of us will be able to wait that long to see how they taste.

Only ever so slightly starting to unfold from its tannic slumber; this is still dense and chewy, but offering more depth to the blackberry, black licorice, roasted herb and game flavors and ending with a solid wall of tannin that lets the fruit seep through.—2001 California Cabernet blind retrospective (June 2011). Drink now through 2025. 700 cases made. -JL

Has stunning fruit, for starters. Sheer, pure, concentrated nose of cassis and cherry. Subtle oak in the background, lending vanilla, toast and caramel nuances. Fabulous texture and weight, fine as velvet. Magnificently lush, full-bodied. Fantastic finish. Drink now through 2015.——S.H.(6/1/2005)—— 95