Beyond the cute canine friend you see on the label, The Mascot is anything but cute - don't let it fool you, this is a serious wine.

The Mascot of course comes from the younger vines that populate several Napa Valley, California vineyards that belong to the Harlan family's BOND, Promontory, and yes, of course, the Harlan Estate. 

Harlan Estate.

The Harlan Estate is today one of America's - nay, the world's - most esteemed wines, first conceived by Bill Harlan as what would be California's 'First Growth' - as you might've guessed this was inspired by his visit to the First Growth's of Bordeaux with none other than Robert Mondavi, another highly regarded Californian winemaker. Bill Harlan's life is one that can truly be said to be larger than life, with not one ounce of exaggeration.

The young Bill had graduated from UC Berkeley in California, and instead of taking on a regular job, he would go motorcycle racing in the UK, spend a year hitchhiking the length of Africa, learn how to fly a plane, become an avid open ocean swimmer, and would sail the world. When it finally came down to being serious, he eventually worked as a stockbroker, and eventually became the real estate developer tycoon that was his life before winemaking. He even found time to be a professional poker player for some time in the 1970's, and would build a barge upon which he modelled a mansion that was an homage to the Taj Mahal, which he had revered.

Bill Harlan.

He would eventually build a resort in California, and find his way into the winemaking circles taking over the coastal state. His numerous encounters with Robert Mondavi obviously played a huge role in convincing him to take winemaking seriously, and yet the final straw came when his visits to Bordeaux made him see that the great wine estates in France were built upon numerous generations. Thus began his iconic '200-year plan'. He began scouting for a place where he could build California's First Growth, that he would then plan to pass down to successive generations as a canvas for his expression of permanence. That resulted in Harlan Estate in 1984, which sure enough, would definitely be considered a California First Growth if such a classification existed.

And because of this 200-year plan, that is why we've got The Mascot.

As Bill had begun to hand over his vineyards to his children, Will and Amanda, his kids would already have inherited an estate that was greatly revered - where would their expression be?

Bill Harlan, his wife Deborah, and their two children, Will and Amanda.

Will Harlan, fresh out of college, would begin to tinker with the idea of using some of the family's estate's young vines to produce a gateway to the legendary Harlan Estate. Since 2% of the vineyards were replanted each year, Will could utilise these vines - ranging 7 to 12 years old, not nearly old enough to produce at their best - to produce something of his own. As he puts it, the wine was initially unnamed and unlabelled, meant solely for friends and family (ain't that always the case...) and eventually he and Amanda decided to give it its own identity. They decided then to name it after their shared passion for dogs, especially considering that dogs were a part of their vineyard work and as they put it "all exhibited loyalty, energy, friendliness, perseverance, and heart".

The stock certificate from which The Mascot gets its iconic photo.

The actual photograph of the dog used on The Mascot's label comes specifically from the Farmers Deposit National Bank of Pittsburgh, who had actually illustrated the dog, a white English bull terrier named Prince, for its stock certificates in the late 1800's. Prince was a beloved local feature and lived at the bank where he greeted customers and employees, and would even become the mascot for the local baseball, football and hockey teams, and in one legend, even retrieved a long ball helping his team win a victory. Will and Amanda had found a copy of said stock certificate in their family's engravings collection and thus decided to feature Prince. For the two siblings, dogs reminded them that true honour came from courage and generosity of spirit that would open new doorways of understanding for themselves and others.

Named after a shared love for canines.

And thus in 2008, when sufficient fruit could be consistently gathered from the Harlan family's estate's younger vines, the first release of The Mascot was thus debuted. As mentioned, this is meant to be an entry point into Harlan Estate, and is thus a "blend of all the magic" that goes into its various vineyards. The wine itself is almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon (mostly 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aside from a few odd vintages), with a small amount of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot blended in as well. The grapes once harvested from their various vineyards, are vinified in the style of their estate of origin (Harlan and BOND use new French oak barrels, whilst Promontory uses large Austrian barrels). The wines are then aged for at least 3 years at their respective properties until the final blend is put together, wherein it is aged for another 18 months in bottle before release.

The 2019 vintage of The Mascot is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Let's give it a go!

The Mascot 2019 - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Ruby

Aroma: Incredibly aromatic and expressive, it's almost pouring out of the glass with heaps of florals of roses, red cherries, red licorice; it's vibrant and intensely perfumed. With time some black licorice, cloves, almost alittle bit chewy, along with an assortment of dark berry jams. At its core is a concentrated hit of organic cola gummies and sarsaparilla.

Taste: Elegant, noticeably lighter and more approachable. We've got roses, raspberries, red cherries, red licorice. It's still very much floral and fruity, with a good cohesiveness here. They all come together very well, with a more delicate structure that is struggling to keep up with the bigger flavours. It feels like it could develop more richness with time.

Finish: A more chalky side that emerges here, along with some red lipstick, red licorice, and finally some bitterness and acidity from cherry pits. The tannins are more firm here, giving it some tension to the otherwise rather ephemeral qualities on the nose and palate, almost as if it were holding a (very perfumed) balloon to the ground.

My Thoughts

This was one of the most aromatic noses I've yet to come across on a bottle of wine - it is just supremely evocative and perfumed, from the moment the cork was disgorged, it just filled the room. If this is Baby Harlan, I truly cannot wait to try what the OG Harlan is. I was simply floored by the aromas here - I found them to be beautifully perfumed and also well structured, with layers of bright notes filled with roses and raspberries, a darker base of dark berry jams, and then right at the core is this well bounded hit of organic cola gummies, almost chewy even.

On the palate, the perfumed quality was dialled down - which was for the best - as I felt it made it more approachable. Again, the flavours were bold and big, and almost jumping out of its backbone here. That said, it was alittle lighter than I had hoped, and more richness would've been wonderful, giving it a fuller and more lush body - perhaps more decanting time would've been better (I tried it without any decanting). 

Into the finish, I found great tension and energy, with the tannins beginning to firm up and give the otherwise perfumed nose and body some balance and holding it down to the ground almost. I really liked that final hit of cherry pits that gave it a nice bitterness and acidity that was refreshing and energetic.

Absolutely stunning bottle of wine! If this was meant to be the gateway, I am sold. I firmly have it in my crosshairs to try a Harlan Estate in this lifetime.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot