After missing a ‘70s and ‘80s Heitz vertical many years ago, I vowed to seek out a bottle as all the comments from the tasting were astoundingly positive. My last bottle of Heitz Martha’s was the ‘01 (which was great) a few years ago, but at 46yrs, this was quite the experience.
The ‘78 has a bit of a legendary status, so expectations were high. Upon opening, the cork was in good shape (sigh of relief) and the color was unbelievably dark ruby with some bricking (another sigh of relief). The singular signature menthol/eucalyptus began to fill the glass, alongside aromatics of red berry fruits, espresso, some sort of sweet brown sugar/caramel note, and a savory-graphite type note too. Beautifully elegant on the palate with more red fruit, herbs (bay leaf?), and even some pipe tobacco (subdued, not in your face), but it sports the classical old Napa cab profile that is pure. Spectacular wine, and I could simply smell the wine all day…the aromatics were so powerful the entire time.
Open in bottle for three hours and powered through the entire time. Wish I had another so I could have the same experience! — 6 months ago
Quite good. Easy drinking, medium bodied. Rustic. — a month ago
Amazing older Napa Cabernet, redfruits (currants and cassis), this is amazingly fresh and youthful, structure is there, just a faint green note pops out in the super long finish, great wine (and clearly showing much more youthful than the 1986 Dunn Napa we opened in mid-March)!! Randy killed it in this vintage, planning to open a 1987 Howell Mountain Cabernet in the next few weeks, it should be fantastic!! — a month ago
[Tasted on January 25, 2025 at Home with Tom, Kathy, Mark and Lucille]
84% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5.5% Merlot; 5.5% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Blackberry and black currant fruit, with chocolate, espresso, earth and a mineral note. Nicely balanced. — 4 months ago
Muska 2021. Fav of the Brooks Riesling this far. — a month ago
A rich crimson in colour. Initially a note of Animale (Barb thought a brief note of cow yard) amongst the dusty cherry, dark fruits, violets and mushroom notes. Great balance between the 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Medium bodied with smooth supple tannins. The next day: Elegance with length - shows the quality of the fruit IMO. My first Lafleur, I think, and it was excellent as expected. — 12 days ago
A bit young. Bright, light red in color, crushed raspberry, cherries, dried flowers, dirt, maybe a mint/menthol note on the nose. Sharp on the palate. Traditional, and great. Bottle from Doug. — 5 months ago
Chris MacLean
Crisp and complex, but not too complex — 12 days ago