Brendel Cooper's Reed spotlight
2019 (Heitz Cellars) Brendel Cooper's Reed Cabernet, Napa Valley
Brittany Sherwood's reed-cask Napa Cabernet from the Heitz family team, fruit first instead of new oak, a 2019 you can open at thirty-six dollars.
The 2019 Cooper's Reed is 100 percent Napa Valley Cabernet aged in large reed-sealed vessels: cherry, mulberry, violet, and a silky unencumbered close, now $36.
Heitz-team Cabernet in reed-sealed casks, not a Martha's Vineyard swap
Brendel is the Heitz Cellar team's second label, made so the Heitz name can stay on classic Napa Cabernet and Chardonnay while this bottle takes a different brief. Cooper's Reed is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon aged in large vessels sealed with reeds, a nod to older Napa cellar practice rather than a new-barrique recipe. The house finds a slightly bashful beginning that leads to an exuberant end. Wine Spectator, without hanging this page on a number, called the 2019 fresh and pure, cherry puree, mulberry and violet, silky and persistent. This is Brendel fruit, not a Martha's Vineyard story. Thirty-six dollars against a $75 typical retail is the point.
The house
Brendel was created by the team at Heitz Cellar. Brittany Sherwood is director of winemaking. This is their Cabernet with a different aging idea, not the Heitz icon line.
The wine
100% Cabernet. Large reed-sealed casks, fruit in front of oak. Cherry, mulberry, violet, a bashful start and an exuberant finish.
The method
Cooper's Reed names the cooper and the reed seal. Old, large wood. The point is Napa Cabernet flavor from the grape, not from new barriques.
The drinker
Cherry and violet first. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A hard-seared steak.
Cherry and mulberry, then violet and a silky close
The house note is a modern nod to history, aged in large reed-sealed vessels, a pure Cabernet that evolves sip by sip, bashful at first, exuberant at the end. A 2019 review found a fresh, pure, unencumbered mix of cherry puree, mulberry, and violet, silky but persistent. Another note found black fruit, licorice, violets, and savory spices. It drinks as Napa Cabernet without a new-oak crust.
A classic, generous Napa Cabernet year. Cooper's Reed used that fruit in large old wood, so 2019 reads fresh and pure rather than toasted. Drink now. The silk is already there.
Cherry puree, mulberry, violet, black fruit, licorice, savory spice.
Silky, unencumbered, large-cask Cabernet rather than new-barrique grip.
Persistent, exuberant after a quiet start. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Large reed-sealed vessels, fruit louder than oak
Cooper's Reed is aged in large vessels sealed with reeds, an old cellar picture: big wood, little toast, Cabernet left to speak. Brittany Sherwood, who has made the wines at Heitz since taking the cellar lead in the mid-2010s, bottles this as a pure Cabernet Sauvignon. The brief is post-Prohibition Napa logic, not a replica of any single Heitz vineyard. Valley-floor Napa fruit, organic farming on the program, a cask that does not coat the wine.
Joe Heitz spent a career proving Napa Cabernet could be about site and fruit. Brendel uses that house skill on a second label with a different aging tool.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Steak is the plate. This is not Martha's Vineyard. It is Cooper's Reed.
A Heitz-family second label with a reed-cask brief
Heitz Cellar was founded by Joe and Alice Heitz in 1961. Brendel is the team's later label for wines that are not the Heitz icon Cabernet.
Brittany Sherwood joined Heitz for the 2012 vintage, worked with David Heitz, and now directs winemaking. Brendel is part of that same cellar.
Cooper's Reed is the Cabernet that wears the reed-cask idea on the label. Large vessels, fruit first, a Napa bottle meant to open.
Do not read this as Martha's Vineyard. That is a different Heitz wine. This 2019 is Brendel: cherry, violet, silk, a second-label Cabernet with a point of view.
Steak on the board, then a short-rib pot
Silky Napa Cabernet wants char and fat. A hard-seared steak takes the cherry and violet. Short ribs take the licorice close.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One red-wine short-rib braise. Both can take Cooper's Reed silk and Cabernet fruit.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux glass.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust for a 2019 Napa Cabernet that still has silk to spare.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion Cabernet while browned beef pulls cherry, mulberry, and violet.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
Collagen and slow heat for licorice, savory spice, and an exuberant close.
Why it works: The braise rounds structure. Dark fruit meets the pot juices.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put Cooper's Reed in the cart
Brittany Sherwood, reed-cask Napa Cabernet, Brendel not Martha. Thirty-six dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Heitz-team Cabernet for a table that wants fruit and silk, priced under a $75 typical retail.
