Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard spotlight
Heitz Cellar's own film of the 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet, the house bottle from the St. Helena cellar. This listing is the 2019 Martha's Vineyard.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $250.11 and the average is $338.38. Our slash is $230.00.
2019 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Brittany Sherwood's Oakville flagship. Martha's Clone, blackcurrant and mint, Wine Advocate 98.
Would you open Napa's first vineyard Cabernet at $230? The 2019 Martha's Vineyard is Cabernet Sauvignon from Tom and Martha May's bench in western Oakville. Joe Czerwinski scored this vintage 98 for Wine Advocate, blackcurrant and camphor with mocha and a long finish on soft tannin. Antonio Galloni, writing for Vinous in December 2024, scored it 97 and called the bouquet a dead giveaway for the site.
ONE VINEYARD IN OAKVILLE.
The Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a legendary, single-vineyard red wine from the Oakville AVA in Napa Valley, California. First produced in 1966, it is famous for its distinctive eucalyptus, mint, and signature herbal character.
The iconic Martha's Vineyard is now available to create your own vertical.
Start with the 2019.
The ratings are real. Wine Advocate put 98 points on it. Joe Czerwinski called this one of the best Martha's vintages he could remember tasting. Antonio Galloni put 97 points on it for Vinous and said the bouquet is the giveaway.
The fruit is Tom and Martha May's bench in western Oakville. Joe Heitz put this vineyard on a Cabernet label in 1966, the first time a Napa Cabernet carried a vineyard name. He literally created the idea of branding a single vineyard before it became common practice.
Martha's Clone keeps the berries small and dark. Mint is the signature. Blackcurrant, camphor, and mocha sit with it. Four years in used and new French oak, then one year in bottle. This Ultra-pedigreed Cabernet means to elevate your cellar in a big way!
Now to create your vertical...
The 2018 is the cooler chapter. Blackberry, bay leaf, and mint. Wine Advocate put 96-plus on it. Wine Spectator put 96 points on it. Vinous put 96 points on it.
The 2017 is the warmer glass. Cassis and dark chocolate. Decanter put 96 points on it. Wine Advocate put 95 points on it.
Mix all three. Give each vintage its own night or open all three and compare and contrast.
The winery price is $350 on all three.
The 2019 bottle is $230. The 2018 is $230. The 2017 is $220.
The best pricing found anywhere.
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. Four years in used and new French oak, then a year in bottle. 13.5% ABV. CCOF organic farming.
The scores
Wine Advocate 98. Vinous 97. Wine Spectator 96. Classic Martha's, with the mint still in the glass.
The drinker
Mint and blackcurrant first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Herb-crusted lamb or pan-seared steak.
Mint first, then blackcurrant, mocha, and iron
Joe Czerwinski, for Wine Advocate, called the 2019 one of the best Martha's vintages he could remember tasting. The nose is loaded with blackcurrants and carries camphor and mocha. The palate is medium to full, rich and concentrated, and the finish runs long on soft tannins.
Antonio Galloni tasted it for Vinous in December 2024 and scored it 97. He wrote that the bouquet is the giveaway: soaring floral and savory top notes, a medium body, pliant, with terrific persistence, dripping with the essence of the site. He called it an archetype of Napa Valley classicism, with a modern purity of red fruit.
James Molesworth scored it 96 for Wine Spectator. Dark currant, cherry, and loganberry sit behind a swath of menthol, with sweet tobacco and a hint of loam underneath, fine-grained, and a lingering twang of iron. He wrote that it has what a long cellar run asks for, and that it still needs time to meld. Heitz's own note on this vintage is red-fruited too: redcurrant, cherry, rose, and the trademark menthol, silky, with power that stays graceful. The house says the 2019 will keep rewarding for 20 years and more.
Abundant winter rain, then a long even season. The Heitz sheet calls out bright acidity, great structure with soft tannins, and brilliant aromatics. Martha's is historically one of the last sites they pick.
Blackcurrant, cherry, loganberry, camphor, mocha, rose, and menthol.
Medium to full, pliant, 13.5% ABV, soft concentrated tannin.
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 2019 aged four years in a mix of used and new French oak barrels and casks, from 228 liters to 12,000 liters, then one year in bottle. Brittany Sherwood wants the site's mint, bay leaf, dark berry, and chocolate, not a wood speech.
The vineyard sits at 170 to 190 feet on Coombs gravelly loam, Bale clay loam, and Perkins gravelly loam. Cane-pruned Geneva Double Curtain. Certified CCOF organic.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve just below room temperature so mint and iron stay in front of the mocha.
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 2019 sheet lists 32 acres, 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 2019 is that Oakville handshake in bottle.
Herbs on lamb, a hard sear on steak
Martha's mint, bay leaf, and blackcurrant want a plate with herbs and a browned crust. The tannin Czerwinski called soft will take a pan sauce, and the menthol Molesworth found stays clearer when the food is not sweet.
A mustard and herb-crusted rack of lamb is the first plate. The herb crust meets the mint without covering it, and the lamb fat gives the mocha and the iron something to hold.
A pan-seared steak with red-wine pan sauce is the second. The hard crust and the glossy jus meet the currant and the tobacco. Serve the wine at 60 to 64 F. If you open a bottle now, give it 45 to 60 minutes in the decanter. Molesworth's note is that it still wants time to meld, and Heitz says the 2019 will keep rewarding for 20 years.
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, mocha, 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 mocha 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 blackcurrant and sweet tobacco. 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 98. The bottle is $230. Add it.
Put the 2019 Martha's Vineyard in the cart. Six bottles are on the button. Twelve ship free in the lower 48.
