In reviewing my records, I initially e-mailed Harlan in August 2013, was almost immediately offered the 2010 Maiden in September 2013, bought a 2-pack (at $175 per). I got an e-mail the following August inviting me to purchase both the Maiden and Harlan Estate.
That 2-pack of Maiden is still sitting in my cellar, and I haven’t bought a bottle of wine from them since, but I receive e-mails each year inviting me to “request my ideal amount” of each wine. I don’t know if my “request” would be granted because I haven’t made any, but their e-mail sure makes it seem like I’d get some wine if I asked for it:
We invite your interest and are confident that should you elect to acquire these wines, your trust will be well rewarded – both in your cellar and on your table. We encourage you to request your preferred or “ideal” amount. Your final allocation will be based on a combination of product availability, along with your expressed interest, list seniority and purchase history. As always, we pledge to fill requests as fully and fairly as possible. > To receive priority consideration your request should be received no later than September 16, 2016. We will finalize and confirm your order by the end of the month and send you a receipt.
One year sure seems like a quick turnaround, especially compared to the “no soup for you” e-mails I’ve received from Cayuse and SQN for the past several years…although the Scarecrow mailing list didn’t take much longer to crack.
For the group: have you ever had a request for Harlan Estate denied? Have you ever received fewer bottles than you requested?
And from a historical perspective, was Harlan Estate ever difficult to get (and I mean difficult in the SQN “you will wait awhile” sense, not in the “it’s $750 bottle, so yeah, it’s a bit of a challenge to purchase” sense)? For me, the barrier is the price, not the wait, and I’m wondering if their “cult” status is due to price rather than exclusivity (and not both, like Screaming Eagle).
The e-mail I received didn’t indicate how many cases of either wine were produced…