Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard spotlight
The official Heitz Cellar channel presents the house from this St. Helena estate. Martha's Vineyard is Heitz's own Oakville flagship vineyard, the site in this 2018 bottle.
2018 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Brittany Sherwood's Oakville flagship, mint and menthol from Martha's Vineyard, a 96-plus 2018 you can cellar at two hundred thirty dollars.
The 2018 Martha's Vineyard is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Tom and Martha May's Oakville bench: blackberry, sweet plum, bay leaf, mint, eucalyptus, and a long tannic close, now $230.
Napa's first vineyard-designate Cabernet, in a vintage that played to its strengths
Joe Heitz put Martha's Vineyard on a Cabernet label in 1966. The 2018 is the cooler, more herbal chapter: blackberry, sweet plum, bay leaf, mint, and eucalyptus on velvety but tannic fruit. Wine Advocate 96-plus called it a vintage that played to Martha's strengths. Wine Spectator 96. Vinous 96. This is Heitz's Oakville flagship, not the Napa Valley house bottling.
The vineyard
Tom and Martha May's Oakville bench against the Mayacamas. Martha's Clone, small berries, the mint and bay leaf that made the site famous.
The wine
100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Long French-oak elevage, then bottle. Cool, gently herbal, concentrated, not heavy.
The scores
Wine Advocate 96-plus. Wine Spectator 96. Vinous 96. Classic Martha's, built for the cellar.
The drinker
Mint and menthol first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Herb-crusted lamb or pan-seared steak.
Mint and menthol, then cassis, tobacco, and iron
Heitz's own note is ripe black fruit, blackberry, sweet plum, bay leaf, mint, and eucalyptus, softness with a firm presence. Wine Advocate found a cool, gently herbal wine loaded with black cherries and cassis, a touch of licorice, rich and velvety without heaviness. Wine Spectator had to work through a lush swath of menthol to reach dark currant, cherry, and loganberry, then sweet tobacco, loam, and iron. Vinous found black cherry, lavender, plum, rose petal, gravel, and spice.
An excellent, even Napa Cabernet year that played to Martha's herbal strengths. The wine is already fragrant and still wants a few years for the tannin to meld.
Blackberry, sweet plum, black cherry, cassis, bay leaf, mint, eucalyptus, menthol.
Medium to full, velvety without heaviness, ripe tannin, long.
Sweet tobacco, loam, iron. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Martha's Clone, then the long Heitz elevage
On the Heitz sheet, Martha's Clone makes small, intensely purple berries with a minty aroma. Only the best barrels from the vineyard are bottled as Martha's Vineyard. The 2018 is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from that Oakville bench, aged in French oak, then bottle. Brittany Sherwood wants mint, bay leaf, black fruit, and a firm presence, not a wood speech.
Wine Spectator listed 3,612 cases. Give it a few years if you can. If opening now, decant 45 to 60 minutes.
Serve just below room temperature so mint, menthol, and iron stay in front of the plum.
The vineyard that taught Napa to name the dirt
In the mid-1960s Joe Heitz struck an agreement with Tom May for fruit from May's small Oakville vineyard. The 1966 Martha's Vineyard was Napa's first concerted vineyard-designated Cabernet.
The site is tucked against the Mayacamas on the western Oakville bench. Afternoon shade lengthens hang time. The proprietary clone is the mint.
Joe and Alice Heitz founded the cellar in 1961. The 1970 Martha's vintage represented Napa at the 1976 Judgment of Paris.
Gaylon Lawrence acquired Heitz in 2018. Carlton McCoy and Brittany Sherwood have kept the wines classical. This 2018 is that Oakville handshake in a vintage that favored the herbs.
Herbs on lamb, a hard sear on steak
Martha's mint, bay leaf, and menthol want herb crust and browned beef. The tannin is ripe enough for a pan sauce, still firm enough to want protein.
Two plates. One herb-crusted rack of lamb. One pan-seared steak with red-wine pan sauce.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A large Cabernet glass lets mint, menthol, and iron open together.
Mustard and Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Mustard, herbs, and a pink center. The plate that meets Martha's mint without covering it.
Why it works: Herb crust echoes mint and bay leaf while lamb fat handles the tannin and the tobacco close.
View Recipe for mustard and herb-crusted rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)
Pan-Seared Steaks with Red Wine Pan Sauce
A hard crust and a glossy jus. Classical Heitz at the steak table.
Why it works: Browned beef and reduction meet cassis and cedar. Acidity refreshes the fat.
View Recipe for pan-seared steaks with red wine pan sauce (opens in a new tab)Put Martha's Vineyard in the cart
Brittany Sherwood, Oakville, Wine Advocate 96-plus. Two hundred thirty dollars.
Put six in the cart. This is Heitz's Oakville flagship, mint and menthol from Martha's Vineyard, built for the cellar.
