Kühle, dunkle Nase. Am Gaumen dunkel beerdige Früchte gepaart mit Menthol und Minze. Eisen und Lakritz deuten dann den Abgang ab. Kam aus der Flasche anfangs besser als aus der Karaffe später. Das kräuterige legte sich dann leider etwas, was für mich den Wein aber ein Stück weit besonders machte. Ein wirklich ausgezeichneter, großer Wein!
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What is it: There is no one "Greatest" Napa wine, but any list of the top 25 wines in Napa will likely have Heitz Martha's Vineyard on it. This is a single vineyard from the Oakville bench. Supposedly a distinct clone of Cab, aged in 100% new French oak for 3 years. Much like every Heitz wine, the wine sees substantial age before release with this particular bottle releasing in late 2016
Price Paid: $200 (local grocery store had a case on clearance and I bought the 2 I could afford from the case)
Nose: Profound and herbal. Eucalyptus, mint, rosemary, thyme, crunchy red fruit, then when swirled a broad swathe of blue and fresh black fruit.
Palate: Crystal clear bing cherry, blueberry, black raspberry, all manner of savory and cool herbs, gravel, and a sort of dusty-earthy thing going on right at the end. Acid is in fantastic balance and tannin is integrated enough to be very enjoyable right out of the bottle Coravin.
Takeaway: This is maybe my first time drinking a legend. This is maybe a little too lean for my preference in Napa, but it stands toe to toe with Ridge Monte Bello for great California cabs, and I think this would be the perfect bridge from someone who's a huge Bordeaux junkie to enter into top-end Napa. 5/5
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Medium ruby. On the nose this is very classic and unmistakably Heitz, offering aromas of just ripe blackberry, blackcurrant, red cherry, cassis, eucalyptus, dried red flowers, spearmint, loamy earth and spice. On the palate this is medium to full bodied with bright acidity and ripe though grippy tannins giving this an ever so slightly lithe and graceful texture. This might lack the depth of the best vintages of Martha's, but it drinks well at the moment, especially when accompanied by a steak.
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This is all wound around dark fruits, with some hints of spice and ginger bread. Lovely ethereal nose of dark fruit, but don’t shake the glass: strong alcohol will appear (14.5%). In mouth it’s definitely warming, with a superb balance of succulent fruit, round tannins and lively acidity. Very long aftertaste, with warmth and progressively crispier.
A lovely exemple of a less heavy Napa vintage.
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I purchased a bottle during my recent visit to Heitz. 2012 turned out beautiful but needs a 4-hour+ decant. Trademark MV red fruit, earth, and a streak of mint that is subtle enough to not be distracting. Bright acidity and finely grained tannins give excellent structure while the oak is beautifully integrated by now. A very elegant, complex, and enjoyable wine.
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medium ruby.... intense red fruits (red currant, raspberry, boysenberry) cigar box, and a slight mint note.... nicely balanced with fine grained tannins and high acidity carrying notably intense red fruit in a long finish.
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Decanted briefly. Lovely pure flavors although not as focused as most high-end modern cult Cabs. Just a touch of eucalyptus. These are lovely but their history is factored into the price.
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From a Mag at Bludorn Restaurant in Houston. No formal notes.
After a quick splash decant the nose was very floral. Great mouthfeel with an inner sweetness that came forward with time in the decanter. All the classic flavors of this site. This wine still has a lot of primary fruit that will benefit from more time. On the menu this offered a pretty good value for the size of table hosted we had.
Early, revisit in a few years.
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Vanilla, red fruit, medium body, smooth, balanced, long finish with acidity, drink together with Sin Qua Na (Syrah and menvedra) like the Sun Qua Na much better. This is not a typical Oakville Cabernet
This ripe and classy Cabernet is an intriguing combination of generosity and restraint, offering plenty of fruit along with a pleasing herbal undertone. I'm not sure if it's worth the price, but it's far more powerful and tasty (and expensive) than a 2014 Trailside I had a few months ago.
Cherry red in color, the wine is strikingly medium in body, with a dusty lightness in the mouth that reminds me of an aged New World Pinot. The aromas are intriguing, with notes of sour cherry, rose petals, dried herbs, trail dust, and eucalyptus. The flavors combine modern ripeness - e.g., blueberry, cedar - with more "classic" elements - e.g., rhubarb, bay leaf. If drinking now, decant at least two hours, but ideally hold until 2022 or later, when the fireworks might really start. 14.5% alcohol. 94 at the moment.
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Bright fruit on the nose. Ripe and plummy. Palate is deep, juicy. Alcohol pokes through a bit on the palate. Palate feels a bit light on concentration but definition is good.
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Very surprised to read that someone found the color pinot-like. I found it textbook Martha's, with that lovely eucalypt note and fresh, plummy fruit. More restraint (confidence?) than most of the current $200+ bottlings and just delicious.
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From a magnum. Good, but not great. Medium bodied, with cassis and a touch of (signature) mint. Fades on the finish. Will it take on more weight with age?
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Drank this wine at Le Toque in Napa Valley. Was not as impressed as I was expecting, while it is a warm fruit forward Cabernet, it is very simple in its complexion. Its taste and flavor don't really evolve as you are drinking it. Warm red fruit notes, almost lofty in nature accentuated its flavor. Smooth drinking wine, for the price I feel you can do better. Would like to have seen some acidity in the wine, or perhaps a bit more tannic structure.
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This will be better in about 5 more years in the bottle. Color was almost Pinot like with some translucency. The nose was rocking of spring flowers and green herbs. The smell was like walking in an open field on a crisp spring morning. The finish was sweeter than I was expecting with blackberry cassis fruit. The only thing holding it back was the abrupt drying finish due to the youthful tannin. Give this baby some more time in the cellar and you should be rewarded.
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Tribecca Grill Tasting to Benefit California: Blackberry, cherry, cassis and some herbs. Really needs some bottle age - and a good steak - but drank better on its own than many wines
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Aromas of fresh-picked blackberry and cassis abound from this lively wine. A beautiful, inviting wine that effortlessly balances classic Cabernet richness with silky tannins on the palate. This is a quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon through and through – at once charming and complex.
This is one to sip now or savor later. It will reward you either way.
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3/28/2024 - Realityrichard Likes this wine: 96 Points
Kühle, dunkle Nase. Am Gaumen dunkel beerdige Früchte gepaart mit Menthol und Minze. Eisen und Lakritz deuten dann den Abgang ab. Kam aus der Flasche anfangs besser als aus der Karaffe später. Das kräuterige legte sich dann leider etwas, was für mich den Wein aber ein Stück weit besonders machte. Ein wirklich ausgezeichneter, großer Wein!
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3/13/2024 - ThatFrenchieGuy Likes this wine: 96 Points
What is it: There is no one "Greatest" Napa wine, but any list of the top 25 wines in Napa will likely have Heitz Martha's Vineyard on it. This is a single vineyard from the Oakville bench. Supposedly a distinct clone of Cab, aged in 100% new French oak for 3 years. Much like every Heitz wine, the wine sees substantial age before release with this particular bottle releasing in late 2016
Price Paid: $200 (local grocery store had a case on clearance and I bought the 2 I could afford from the case)
Nose: Profound and herbal. Eucalyptus, mint, rosemary, thyme, crunchy red fruit, then when swirled a broad swathe of blue and fresh black fruit.
Palate: Crystal clear bing cherry, blueberry, black raspberry, all manner of savory and cool herbs, gravel, and a sort of dusty-earthy thing going on right at the end. Acid is in fantastic balance and tannin is integrated enough to be very enjoyable right out of the bottle Coravin.
Takeaway: This is maybe my first time drinking a legend. This is maybe a little too lean for my preference in Napa, but it stands toe to toe with Ridge Monte Bello for great California cabs, and I think this would be the perfect bridge from someone who's a huge Bordeaux junkie to enter into top-end Napa. 5/5
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3/10/2024 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perfectly integrated with soft mouthfeel and smooth tannins. Hint of eucalyptus so classic for this wine. In a word delicious.
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8/2/2023 - mick978@gmail.com Likes this wine: 90 Points
Too young at this point. Hits quite sweet
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7/19/2023 - vintage_whine wrote:
Piercing black currant. Eucalyptus. Menthol. Cumin. Tannins are integrated. Liquered qualities. Balanced and beautiful restraint
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5/13/2023 - wino_tim wrote: 92 Points
Medium ruby. On the nose this is very classic and unmistakably Heitz, offering aromas of just ripe blackberry, blackcurrant, red cherry, cassis, eucalyptus, dried red flowers, spearmint, loamy earth and spice. On the palate this is medium to full bodied with bright acidity and ripe though grippy tannins giving this an ever so slightly lithe and graceful texture. This might lack the depth of the best vintages of Martha's, but it drinks well at the moment, especially when accompanied by a steak.
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5/4/2023 - tastefuldrop Likes this wine: 98 Points
A great wine.
This is all wound around dark fruits, with some hints of spice and ginger bread. Lovely ethereal nose of dark fruit, but don’t shake the glass: strong alcohol will appear (14.5%). In mouth it’s definitely warming, with a superb balance of succulent fruit, round tannins and lively acidity. Very long aftertaste, with warmth and progressively crispier.
A lovely exemple of a less heavy Napa vintage.
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5/3/2023 - Blake.Hansen Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened for 90+ minutes. Wonderful wine for a pizza night birthday celebration.
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1/30/2023 - Ahughes444 wrote: 94 Points
I purchased a bottle during my recent visit to Heitz. 2012 turned out beautiful but needs a 4-hour+ decant. Trademark MV red fruit, earth, and a streak of mint that is subtle enough to not be distracting. Bright acidity and finely grained tannins give excellent structure while the oak is beautifully integrated by now. A very elegant, complex, and enjoyable wine.
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3/20/2022 - Ahughes444 Likes this wine: 93 Points
medium ruby.... intense red fruits (red currant, raspberry, boysenberry) cigar box, and a slight mint note.... nicely balanced with fine grained tannins and high acidity carrying notably intense red fruit in a long finish.
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2/25/2022 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted briefly. Lovely pure flavors although not as focused as most high-end modern cult Cabs. Just a touch of eucalyptus. These are lovely but their history is factored into the price.
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2/9/2022 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 94 Points
From a Mag at Bludorn Restaurant in Houston. No formal notes.
After a quick splash decant the nose was very floral. Great mouthfeel with an inner sweetness that came forward with time in the decanter. All the classic flavors of this site. This wine still has a lot of primary fruit that will benefit from more time. On the menu this offered a pretty good value for the size of table hosted we had.
Early, revisit in a few years.
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8/29/2020 - Yzhang1908 wrote:
Vanilla, red fruit, medium body, smooth, balanced, long finish with acidity, drink together with Sin Qua Na (Syrah and menvedra) like the Sun Qua Na much better. This is not a typical Oakville Cabernet
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4/23/2020 - msuwine wrote: 94 Points
This ripe and classy Cabernet is an intriguing combination of generosity and restraint, offering plenty of fruit along with a pleasing herbal undertone. I'm not sure if it's worth the price, but it's far more powerful and tasty (and expensive) than a 2014 Trailside I had a few months ago.
Cherry red in color, the wine is strikingly medium in body, with a dusty lightness in the mouth that reminds me of an aged New World Pinot. The aromas are intriguing, with notes of sour cherry, rose petals, dried herbs, trail dust, and eucalyptus. The flavors combine modern ripeness - e.g., blueberry, cedar - with more "classic" elements - e.g., rhubarb, bay leaf. If drinking now, decant at least two hours, but ideally hold until 2022 or later, when the fireworks might really start. 14.5% alcohol. 94 at the moment.
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9/26/2019 - R J Lewis wrote:
Bright fruit on the nose. Ripe and plummy. Palate is deep, juicy. Alcohol pokes through a bit on the palate. Palate feels a bit light on concentration but definition is good.
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5/6/2019 - littlefoot Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very surprised to read that someone found the color pinot-like.
I found it textbook Martha's, with that lovely eucalypt note and fresh, plummy fruit. More restraint (confidence?) than most of the current $200+ bottlings and just delicious.
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10/2/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 Points
From a magnum. Good, but not great. Medium bodied, with cassis and a touch of (signature) mint. Fades on the finish. Will it take on more weight with age?
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2/13/2018 - J.S wrote: 93 Points
Drank this wine at Le Toque in Napa Valley. Was not as impressed as I was expecting, while it is a warm fruit forward Cabernet, it is very simple in its complexion. Its taste and flavor don't really evolve as you are drinking it. Warm red fruit notes, almost lofty in nature accentuated its flavor. Smooth drinking wine, for the price I feel you can do better. Would like to have seen some acidity in the wine, or perhaps a bit more tannic structure.
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11/25/2017 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 92 Points
This will be better in about 5 more years in the bottle. Color was almost Pinot like with some translucency. The nose was rocking of spring flowers and green herbs. The smell was like walking in an open field on a crisp spring morning. The finish was sweeter than I was expecting with blackberry cassis fruit. The only thing holding it back was the abrupt drying finish due to the youthful tannin. Give this baby some more time in the cellar and you should be rewarded.
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11/20/2017 - TashNYC wrote: 91 Points
Tribecca Grill Tasting to Benefit California: Blackberry, cherry, cassis and some herbs. Really needs some bottle age - and a good steak - but drank better on its own than many wines
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11/11/2017 - Sundbyberg wrote: 93 Points
Tasting: Quite perfumed, which is normally not my thing, but I must say I still liked this.
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11/20/2016 - saten26 wrote:
Aromas of fresh-picked blackberry and cassis abound from this lively wine. A beautiful, inviting wine that effortlessly balances classic Cabernet richness with silky tannins on the palate. This is a quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon through and through – at once charming and complex.
This is one to sip now or savor later. It will reward you either way.
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