Optimal air time for Heitz 1974 Martha's and 1968 Pinot Chardonnay?

Taking these two wines to dinner weds……I usually like to bring the wines to correct temps and pull the corks at home…then take the wines to the restaurant which is about 20mins away. What do you guys think is the optimal air time for such wines? Any decanting? Thanks!

Oh man that is a duo, enjoy Buzz.

We should probably just open it when we get there. In my limited experience with aged ‘legendary’ CA wines, they tend to fall apart after 30 minutes.

I wouldn’t know what to say or recommend for that Chardonnay. Though opening it at home is what would be best, as it may not have much if anything to offer and you may choose to leave it at home. I have no experience with a California Chardonnay beyond 20 years old.

As for the Cab, open it a few hours before, decant, and take it from there. It may need some time, but it might not need much breathing, the decanting may be all it needs. You will have to play it by ear… errrrrr… by palate / nose. I hope it is as good as it once was.

Cheers!

We had the 75 and 78 at a lunch a few months ago and we served pop and pour, no decant. At that age we prefer to let the wine develop in the glass so we can experience the transformation. The wines had been standing up for a week and had very little sediment. Both wines were amazing from the get go.

A few years ago, we regretted not giving a 69 Martha’s more air.

At this point, there’s going to be a LOT of bottle variation in a wine like the 74 Heitz Martha’s. I would double decant it to remove sediment just before you leave for the restaurant. When you get to the restaurant, you can pour a small sample into a glass and decide if it’s ready to go or if it needs significant decanter time at the restaurant. It would be sad if you had decanted it hours beforehand at home and then it had fallen apart by the time of dinner.

Bruce

Where are you dining?

Hi Brian,

Color looks great on the '68 Lot Z-82! I would not anticipate it needs a lot of air prior to serving, but if you have a can of argon handy, then opening it prior to leaving and giving it a touch of gas to keep it fresh might be ideal, so you do not have to wrestle with a fragile cork at the restaurant. I bet it will be a superb bottle. The '74 Martha’s will have plenty of life in it still, but I would handle it exactly as Bruce mentioned above and just double decant it prior to leaving for the restaurant and then taste the wine when you get there and see how long you think it will want in decanter. My guess is no more than fifteen minutes in decanter prior to serving would be optimal, but you may want to just decant and serve immediately, based on how the structure feels when you taste the wine. I have not drunk it in a few years, but the '75 last year was singing right out of the decanter and cruised along magically for a couple of hours and showed no signs of slowing down when we finished the bottle. Enjoy them both!

All the Best,

John

I like John’s idea - do you have a coravin or can you borrow one? This would be a great use - pour a small amount and see what you think.

That bottle is from Barney Rhodes(planted Martha’s vineyard, owned Bella Oaks, Heitz founding member) cellar…….so this hasn’t gone to far from the source! Although, I did open a 68 Freemark Abbey Pinot Chard a few years ago from his cellar that was DOA.

I hope it’s still kickin!

Thought you guys were waiting for me to open that heitz Martha’s !

I had the '74 almost two decades ago, and it remains one of my top 5 wine experiences ever. The cork disintegrated into the bottle when we tried to open it, but the smell of eucalyptus and mint practically exploded out of the bottle. It was ready to go immediately, but it was a little better after a half hour in the decanter. I thought it was on the decline as I scraped the last drops out of the bottom of my glass two hours later, but my palate may have grown tired by that point. I’ve never messed with Argon before, but it sounds like a good idea in this case if you are opening it ahead of time.

Side note, I thought the Martha’s might have 5-10 more years of life at most back then. I only learned later that Joe Heitz made these for the very long term. Look forward to hearing how the tasting goes.

YOU drink too many good wines as it is! You’re welcome to join us…come on up!

i wish. have a meeting early morning in downtown on thursday

re-arrange it or conf. call instead

i will have a drc in tow…but you’ve been drinking a barrel full of that lately so that may not be enough to entice you.

That '68 looks fantastic!
Please report back:)

You and I must be drinking different aged Cali Cabs. I keep worrying they are going to fall apart and they always wind up needing a couple of hours to really blossom.

I would handle that Martha’s as little as possible - as I recall, this is not a wine that transports well. Some do, some don’t. I would definitely move it carefully from your shelf at home to a person sitting in the car. And get it into the restaurant with as little movement as possible. A double decant would only move that sediment through the body of the wine.

Don’t even let a waiter take the bottle in his hands to look at the label - gosh, I hate that! I would personally remove the cork, take a taste, and decide whether a decant is advisable.

I would enjoy it at home, personally.