The Mascot wine tells the story of Napa Valley winemaking royalty

An entry point to the Harlan family wines

The Mascot is a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon made from distinct hillside vineyards; specifically, the younger vines of Bond, Harlan Estate and Promontory. (Photo: The Mascot)

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Like Will and many of his friends just getting into wine after college, The Mascot is meant to be an entry point to the Harlan family wines. At a tasting, Will’s sister Amanda described it to me as a “glimpse behind the curtain of what’s to come” from both the vines and wines, as well as a “blend of all the magic” that goes into its hillside properties.

Tracing the line of intent leading to the production of the wine is the key to understanding its singularity. Some Harlan properties already have a second wine, such as Harlan Estate’s The Maiden, but The Mascot is an entirely different beast.

Fruit for The Mascot blend comes from vines averaging around five to 12 years old. These vines are on the younger side, and considered still too young to produce fruit for the esteemed labels of their parent properties. However, the young vines’ wines still display density and plushness, thanks to a combination of biodynamic practices and far-sighted thinking.

 

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Fruit for The Mascot blend comes from younger vines

Current Managing Director Will Harlan. (Photo: The Mascot)

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In accordance with the family’s long-term plans, vines are replanted sans tilling at a rate of roughly 2 per cent a year in soil that already hosts a cover crop. In addition to maintaining quality and yield, this ensures a steady supply of young vines for The Mascot.

Young vines also benefit from a mature microorganism system and nutrient pathway in the soil. With Harlan viticulture, dry farming begins early, thanks to the practice of letting rootstocks mature for three years before vines are grafted. As a result of little irrigation, certain characteristics of older vines are encouraged, such as less vigour and deeper roots. The result is higher acidity, lower sugar accumulation, and higher concentration.

Mostly cabernet sauvignon, but with a small percentage of merlot, cabernet franc, and petit verdot, The Mascot is an amalgamated expression of Harlan family land ownership. This includes Harlan Estate, the original site patriarch Bill Harlan purchased in 1984 with the intention of producing a first-growth wine in California — and he succeeded in doing so with critically-acclaimed vintages that would eventually become a cult Napa cabernet sauvignon.

The Mascot is an amalgamated expression of Harlan family land ownership and is made from a selection of younger vines from BOND (pictured), Harlan Estate and Promontory. (Photo: BOND)

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Then there’s Bond (stylised as BOND), a project that began in 1996. If Harlan Estate is the Bordeaux model of making a great wine from a single estate, Bond is the Burgundy model of making wines that are very site-specific — even though all the wines are cabernet sauvignon. The Bond portfolio currently consists of five Grand Cru plots, each ranging between 2.8ha and 4.4ha, destined for five single-vineyard labels showcasing the geographical diversity of Napa Valley.

In 2008, Bill Harlan acquired Promontory, a 340-ha piece of rugged land he’d discovered in the 1980s. Due to its untamed nature, Promontory has less than 10 per cent of land under vine.

Each property’s wines also command their own barrel type. Harlan Estate and Bond wines spend an average of three years inside both new and neutral French oak, while Promontory rests in larger casks of Austrian oak. Following barrel-ageing, the wines are further rested in their bottles for 18 months before release, making them ready to be enjoyed at once or a decade or two later.

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Another mascot, another story

Amanda Harlan works closely with her brother Will. (Photo: The Mascot)

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With The Mascot’s origin as a shared family and friends tradition and with its purpose as an introduction to the Harlans’ work its storied label makes sense.

On its label is an engraving from the family’s collection of, well, another mascot: a white English bull terrier named Prince that came to the Farmers Deposit National Bank of Pittsburgh in the late 1800s. Prince lived at the bank, greeted, and was loved by both employees and customers. He also became the mascot of local sports teams, and had his likeness on the bank’s cheques and stock certificates. Another influence was the plucky, lovable white English bull terrier the Harlan children read repeatedly about in a 1903 short story, The Bar Sinister.

Amanda shares, “We were thinking about how to encapsulate the spirit of this wine, and how to make everyone feel welcome. Our team members all love dogs, and having that affinity is much like what wine does — it is common ground to tell stories no matter what language you speak.”

 


Vintage Lessons


Amanda Harlan and The Mascot’s estate director Anthony Mendelson share their favourite vintages:


Amanda: “2017, because that was a difficult year for Napa. Despite hail, heat spikes, and a huge fire, we pulled through! That was an emotional time for the team.”


Anthony: “2018, because of all the opportunities we had to learn from 2017. Every year, we learn more and make better wine.”

 

 



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