1975 | Heitz Wine Cellar | Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Complex aromatics of red and black fruit, cedarwood, dried rose and cocoa are followed by a powerful, beautifully balanced wine with a firm core of tannin, fruit and fresh acids.

Reviews:

• John Gilman: The more I drink California cabernets from the decade of the 1970s, the more I am convinced that I have a slight preference for the style of the 1975s over their more highly touted brethren from the riper year of 1974. The brilliant 1975 Martha’s Vineyard is certainly pretty persuasive evidence that 1975 is indeed a great, great year for cabernet in Napa, as the wine is beautifully deep, pure and still a tad on the young side at age thirty-six! The magical and deep-pitched nose offers up a great mélange of black cherries, petroleum jelly, cigar smoke, leather, a touch of chipotles, coffee and a very complex base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and powerfully built, with impeccable focus and balance, a rock solid core of fruit, still a bit of tannin to resolve, superb, tangy acids and simply stunning length and grip on the perfectly poised and refined finish. A wine of First Growth depth and dimension by any stretch of the imagination.

• Decanter: I have nothing but admiration for Heitz Cellar, and writing a profile on them this year gave me an excuse to try a number of bottles of their wines. While the 1974 Martha’s Vineyard tends to win all the attention, the 1975 also clearly ranks as one of the most thrilling Napa Cabernets produced during the 20th century, and I really like the wine’s tension and reserve. Complex aromatics of red and black fruit, cedarwood, dried rose and cocoa are followed by a powerful, beautifully balanced wine with a firm core of tannin, fruit and fresh acids. A few hours in the decanter really help this still-youthful Cabernet expatiate. To my palate, this could go head to head with the handful of great wines produced in Bordeaux in 1975 such as La Mission Haut Brion and Pétrus.

Producer Information

Heitz Wine Cellar is an iconic Napa Valley wine producer located just south of St Helena. It is most famous for its single vineyard wines made of Cabernet Sauvignon, and in particular the Martha's Vineyard wine, which is one of Napa's "Cult Cabernet" labels. The estate was founded by Joe Heitz in 1961. Heitz had been a professor in the enology department of California State University in Fresno, and had previously assisted the legendary pioneering California winemaker André Tchelistcheff at Beaulieu Vineyards. Wanting to begin his own project, Heitz bought eight acres (3.4 hectares) of vineyards that were mostly planted with the Italian Grignolino grape. Heitz Cellars continues to make a wine from this variety today. As with many Napa producers, Heitz's success has been associated with its flagship Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Heitz is the exclusive lease holder of the 35 acre (14 hectare) Martha's Vineyard in the Oakville AVA and has used its fruit to produce vineyard-designated varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the 1966 vintage. The estate runs vineyards across the wider Napa Valley area, with sites in Oakville, Rutherford, St Helena, Howell Mountain, Oak Knoll District, and Calistoga. Until recently, Heitz generally shied away from using Napa's sub-AVA titles, choosing instead to use the more generic Napa Valley AVA along with the vineyard name. The style of Heitz's Cabernet Sauvignon wines has remained consistent over the years. The winery uses French oak over American, and fruit is harvested slightly earlier than much of the rest of the region, giving a wine that is slightly higher in acidity than most. Heitz makes a range of other wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as from other classic Napa varieties like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Zinfandel. Heitz was bought by Arkansas-based billionaire Gaylon Lawrence in 2018 and is now part of the Lawrence Family group of holdings which spans interests in agriculture and farming, banking and commercial real estate.

DISCLAIMER** This is a single item listing unless otherwise noted in the description. Retailer advises either in stock or in route to their location. Usually ships within one to four business days. Longer processing times may occur especially around holiday(s). Some items may become backordered or delayed without notice due to demand & will ship out upon arrival. Overseas 700ml products typically have longer processing/transit times. You can always verify product availability by calling 1-888-548-0333. Please refer to our cancellations & returns agreement or reach out to our support team at help@caskcartel.com for any additional questions.

Our dedicated team specializes in creating personalized shopping experiences. If you’re looking for a specific item or collection that isn’t appearing on our marketplace, please reach out to us at concierge@caskcartel.com or fill out the product inquiry form and one of our dedicated team members will be in touch.  Whether it’s a product you’ve experienced while traveling or a rare, hard to find item you’ve been searching for, we have an established global network of retailers with the ability to locate and source the rarest and hardest to find products.