The single-vineyard cuvee
Heitz Cellar on Lot C-91, the Cabernet blended from the estate's single vineyards.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Heitz Cellar Lot C-91 Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $80.50 and the average is $95.01. Our slash is $81.00.
2019 Heitz Cellar Lot C-91
Cabernet from Martha's Vineyard, Trailside, Howell Mountain, and Linda Falls, a James Suckling 97 at eighty-one dollars.
James Suckling tasted this 2019 in November 2023 and named those four vineyards in the blend. It is $81 against a $120 retail. Wine-Searcher shows a low of $80.68 and an average of $95.23.
Joe's blend of the single vineyards
Lot C-91 goes back to an idea Joe Heitz had in 1969: assemble the single vineyards instead of bottling only one of them. Martha's Vineyard, in 1966, had been Napa's first vineyard-designated Cabernet. The 2019 is that cuvee.
The four sites
Suckling's November 2023 note names Martha's Vineyard, Trailside, Howell Mountain, and Linda Falls. No percentage split is printed for the 2019, so none is given here.
The house
Joe and Alice Heitz founded the winery in 1961. Brittany Sherwood is director of winemaking. She has been at Heitz since 2012. The Lawrence family took ownership in April 2018.
The scores
James Suckling scored the 2019 a 97 in November 2023. Wine Spectator scored it 94, best from 2026 through 2038, 3,769 cases. Wine Advocate scored it 94. The corner tile is the 97.
The glass
Suckling: blackberry, slate, lead pencil, black currant, and wet earth, with the purity of the great Cabernets of the 1970s. His note, written in 2023, asked for another four or five years. Spectator's window is already open, through 2038.
Blackberry, mint, and a fine tannin
James Suckling, November 2023: blackberry, slate, lead pencil, black currant, and wet earth. Medium to full, with exquisite tannins, and the purity of the Cabernets of the 1970s. He names Martha's Vineyard, Trailside, Howell Mountain, and Linda Falls, and says it is drinkable, and better in four or five years from that tasting.
Suckling's clock started in November 2023, when he asked for four or five more years, which points at about 2027 or 2028. Wine Spectator's published window is 2026 through 2038.
Suckling: blackberry, slate, lead pencil, black currant, wet earth. Wine Spectator: mint, damson plum, red currant, cedar, savory, and iron.
Medium to full, exquisite tannins, in the Suckling note. Wine Advocate finds more concentration than the straight Napa Cabernet, rich, with no excess weight, and a mocha note.
Spectator's window runs 2026 through 2038, and the review counts 3,769 cases. Alcohol is 14 percent. Decant and serve near 62 F.
Four vineyards, one Cabernet
The 2019 notes name the grape, the vineyards, and the alcohol. They do not print a barrel regimen or a vineyard percentage, so those stay off this page.
Winemaker: Brittany Sherwood is director of winemaking at Heitz Cellar. She has been with the house since 2012 and worked with David Heitz.
Fruit: One hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Suckling's note on this vintage names Martha's Vineyard, Trailside, Howell Mountain, and Linda Falls. A percentage split is not printed for 2019.
What stays off: Alcohol is 14 percent, from the trade notes on this vintage. Barrel months printed for other vintages of Lot C-91 are not copied onto the 2019.
From Martha's Vineyard to a cuvee
Heitz is the house that put a vineyard name on a Napa Cabernet, then built a blend from those vineyards.
Joe and Alice Heitz founded the winery in 1961. In 1966, Martha's Vineyard became Napa Valley's first vineyard-designated Cabernet Sauvignon. The Home Ranch is on Taplin Road in St. Helena.
In the fall of 1969 Joe sketched Lot C-91: choose the parcels, then assemble them, so the cuvee could be more than any one vineyard. The house later brought that idea back as the blend of its single-vineyard Cabernets.
In April 2018 the Lawrence family took the estate on. Heitz says its vineyards are now certified CCOF organic, across Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Oak Knoll, and Calistoga. That is the estate today. It is not a claim printed on the 2019 back label.
Rosemary rack of lamb, then mushroom risotto
Mint, cedar, and black currant want lamb and a green herb crust. A bowl of mushroom risotto is the quieter second plate.
Two plates. A rosemary-crumbed rack of lamb, rosy in the center. Then a creamy mushroom risotto. The lamb meets the mint and the savory note in the Spectator review. The risotto meets the earth and the cedar.
Decant the 2019. Serve near 62 F in a Bordeaux glass. Spectator's window is 2026 through 2038. Suckling, tasting in November 2023, wanted another four or five years.
Rosemary crumbed rack of lamb
Nagi's rack of lamb in a rosemary crumb, cooked to a rosy center, with a simple herb sauce.
Why it works: Rosemary and the minty, savory line in the Spectator note are the same family, and the rosy lamb can take the tannin.
View Recipe for rosemary crumbed rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom risotto
Serious Eats' mushroom risotto, creamy rice with a deep mushroom stock and thyme.
Why it works: Mushroom and thyme pick up the wet earth and the cedar, and the cream lets the Cabernet stay bright.
View Recipe for mushroom risotto (opens in a new tab)The cuvee, at eighty-one dollars
This is the 2019 Lot C-91, Cabernet from the single vineyards, with a James Suckling 97 and an eighty-one-dollar ask against a $120 retail.
Take the 2019 home at $81 a bottle.
