Harlan Estate is a California wine estate producing Bordeaux-style blends. The estate is located in the western hills of Oakville, California within the Oakville AVA, in the Napa Valley AVA zone.^{[citation needed]} Harlan Estate is a "cult winery," commanding high prices due to scarcity. Its flagship wine is the eponymous Harlan Estate. They also produce a second wine called The Maiden.

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Harlan Estate was founded in 1984 by H. William Harlan, a real estate developer and Napa Valley resort owner.^[1][2] It is located east of Martha's Vineyard in Oakville on a 240-acre (97 ha) property with forested areas and steep hillsides. Harlan cleared 40 acres (16 ha) for viticulture,^[3] with the expressed ambition to "create a first growth wine".^[4]

The first Harlan Estate wine label, which was 10 years in the making, was inspired by a 19th-century engraving and overseen by retired U.S. Treasury engraver Herb Fichter.^[4] According to Harlan, the label was designed for a bottle that "would sit on a table in candlelight, not on a store shelf."^[4]

Described by Jancis Robinson as "one of the ten best wines of the twentieth century,"^[4] Harlan Estate has received acclaim from Wine Spectator^[5] and Robert Parker, including four scores of 100 "parker points",^[2] which has contributed to the wine's high price. Released at $850 per bottle, its price rose on the speculative market,^[1] and may range from $1,200 and up.^[2][6] A 10-vintage vertical selection of magnum bottles sold at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction for $700,000.^[4]

The Director of Wine Making, Bob Levy, has worked with Harlan since 1983, when Harlan took part in founding the Merryvale Winery.^[1][3][4] Since 1989, Michel Rolland has served as the estates consultant enologist.^[7][2][8] Construction of the current winery was completed in 2002.^[1]

The estate extends 240 acres (97 ha), of which approximately 15% of the land, 40 acres (16 ha) is cultivated with the grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.^[8][9]