March 8, 2024 - First wine note in a year++, this was such a delightful surprise to the upside. CT shows drinking window 2025-2100! Wow. Blind, this wine would be difficult to identify as Napa, definitely old-world characteristics. Took 2-3 hours to open so recommend decanting. Gorgeous, one of my top favorite Napas (alongside Dominus) with the nose developing over time with cigar box, baking spice, black fruit (black tea?) and perhaps a hint of the signature Eucalyptus. Wine feels in the drinking window, to me, with lovely texture and finish. I'm going to look for more 70s and 80s Heitz, pricey but worth it vis-a-vis classic Bordeaux. Cheers!!
December 14, 2023 - Superb effort from Heitz. Nearly 40 year old wine that is just humming. PNP, cork looked great. Not faded on rim of wine and busting with old world and old Napa flavor (cigar, tobacco, wood forest, dark black fruit, cassis). Just a f'ing wonderful wine.
October 15, 2023 - Drank with Frank and Ann Sanford
September 7, 2023 - A fabulous example of an aged, classic Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine kicks off with a blast of cherries, cocoa, tobacco leaf and a sprig of mint. Full, deep and chewy, the dark cherries and plums on the back end kept on going. It’s hard to believe this is almost 40 years of age. Drink from 2023-2035.
July 9, 2023 - Much better than the average score here, this has all the characteristics of a great bottle of MV. Deep complex fruit, excellent balance, and minty notes. An excellent drink, thanks Pav
February 10, 2023 - Napa 2023: the quieter version; 2/6/2023-2/11/2023 (Napa/Sonoma California): A wine that I thought was great from the beginning but did seem to get better and better in the glass. Really impressive. It’s got the eucalyptus and the darker fruits and the more secondary style and very well balanced and structured. Drinking great.
June 7, 2022 - Wine Workshop: Heitz Martha's Vineyard (The Dutch): Slight change-up and so the '85 ended up in the first flight and the '86 in the second. Both great wines. The 85 is almost slightly sweet blackberry, brambly, a bit more woodsy in style. It's drinking quite nicely. A wine that I kept revisiting throughout the dinner.
April 2, 2022 - This winery re-release of the 1985 Heitz Martha's Vineyard spent three decades in neutral oak casks prior to bottling a few years ago. Today, it successfully masquerades as a much younger wine. Deeply hued with minimal bricking and no signs of oxidation or "old wine funk," it revealed its age on the palate, where the tannins are fully resolved, and eventually on the nose, where subtle notes of dark chocolate, leather, and earth emerge after about an hour in the decanter. Of course, this being classic Martha's, the overall impressions are of cassis and eucalyptus, a silky texture, a satisfying finish, and a wine at its absolute peak. Drink re-releases over the next few years, original bottlings ASAP.
October 31, 2021 - This wine surprised me. From a 750 ML bought at release and cellar stored since purchase. Perfect interpretation of an older Cal Cab. All the fruit and Cal Cab flavors you would expect without the tannins. Did not taste or look old.
The wine looks crimson colored. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like black currant (cassis) and flint. It tastes like a rich cab of black currant (cassis) with a little earthiness. The body is medium/full. The wine has satin-like texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity.
June 20, 2021 - Purple black, with nose of black tea, this wine is tight at inception then opens up to black plum, stewed prune and a healthy dose of eucalyptus touched with oregano and a drying note of basil. Enjoyed with lamb chops. Amazing vitality for a 36 year-old wine.