TN: 1974 Heitz Martha's,1968 Heitz Pinot Chardonnay, 2000 DRC Grands Ech…..

WTHW…what the hell wednesday……buddy Edson and I(God joined us when we opened the 74) had a nice little dinner tonight with some legendary wines……food…AMAZING as always……foie gras and bacon fat popcorn was TOO DIE FOR with the 68! The Chef and server were as thrilled with the wines as we were……a perfect night!

• 1968 Heitz Cellar Chardonnay Pinot Chardonnay LOT Z-82 - USA, California, Napa Valley (2/24/2016)
  Acquired from Barney Rhodes(planted Martha’s Vineyard, owner Bella Oaks V) cellar……maybe Hanzell fruit?..…decided to go with a PnP…and this was SPECTACULAR all night! UN believable how youthful this wine was……as soon as I smelled the cork, I knew we were in for a treat! Montrachet meets Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc……brilliant gold, green color…RICH buttered pears/apples, grilled pineapple….fresh and alive with lemon curd, crushed minerals….perfect oak integration……complexities of lantern oil, antique wax, hot buttered rum spice, cold green tea. NO WAY this is 48yrs old! Amazing freshness, sweetness…yet perfect balance of salinity and unique aged complexities……and it didn’t waver all night! Thought it might die out…but it kept on going….just an amazing experience! (99 pts.)

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• 1974 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha’s Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (2/24/2016)
  The legend! A bucket for me……PnP…drank over 4hrs….Holy Sh@$@@$!...I can’t believe how dark and youthful this wine is!!! The cork smelled SO good…I knew God had joined us…….Dark saturated berries…currants, blackberries, cherries…dried and savory……unbelievable nose and mouthful of dried herbs…bay leaf, euc, mint….cigar wrapper, creme de cassis, pencil lead……aged nuttiness, 100year old oozing balsamic barrels……SO silky smooth, layer after layer of the perfect aged cab flavors….thought maybe after hour 2 it was starting to fall apart…but then it sprang back to life in amazing fashion……we had a great bottle, and a life altering experience! (98 pts.)
• 2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru (2/24/2016)
  Usually the focus on any table…but tonight this took a back seat to two amazing Heitz Cellars wines…74 Martha’s and 68 Chardonnay……the GE is another example of how well the 2000’s are drinking right now……wonderful fruit and pretty spices……somewhat lighter bodied…crisp and crunchy red berry fruits….silky smooth and showing wonderful Asian spice, perfumed potpourri, smoked woods, cranberry skin acidity….starting to show a little aged forest and some olive as well….but still very vibrant. Tasty with all the food courses…all night! So good! (95 pts.)

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Posted from CellarTracker

So god waited until you’d had the 99 pointer then joined you for the 98 pointer? At least god is not a points chaser.

Thanks for the notes Mr Buzz. That '68 looks amazingly fresh.

Cheers
Jeremy

Wow amazing experience with the 1968 Heitz.

Holy crap, now THAT, is one helluva dinner! And I love the fact that you did it on a Wednesday.

Any pics of the 74 Martha’s in a glass? It might be one of the shots above but I wasn’t sure.

Congrats again on amazing night!

Awesome night, I’d have been all over that Pinot Chardonnay!!

And at the 2016 Paris tasting, the Americans win again.

Joking aside, have had some old stony hill chards that can be like this. Makes you wonder just what did they do back then.

Thanks for the photos and notes. A very rare treat.

Awesome wines and notes! Those Cali wines from the 60’s and 70’s can be magic in a bottle.
I went through 6 bottles of the '74 Mondavi regular Napa Cab in the last 2 years. Four of them were good but 2 bottles were just amazing.

We really missed you on this one Doc! Do you know if this was fruit from Hanzell? I know that Heitz acquired barrels of Hanzell Chard back in the early 60’s….not sure if they kept sourcing the fruit, and if so, until when?

Move back Doc!

Don’t know why I didn’t take a shot of just the 74……but the glass of red in both pics above are the 74……look how dark it is!

Wow, the color on that Chard is incredible…thx for posting!

Way better than the photos on Edison’s 1990 razr flip phone .

who are you calling edison? …btw - it’s a nokia 5190 thank you very much

damn auto correct.

wow, what an unbelievable experience. if there is such thing as a perfect wine, the 68 came close imo. remarkably ‘fresh’ and youthful that can go another decade probably. Stunning.

the 74 martha’s was a treat, it definitely lived up to expectations. this was my first older ca wine that didn’t fall apart on me after 30 minutes. the bottle peaked after 3 hours, but even towards the end of the night it was still showboating.

the drc ge is gorgeous. the 00s are just amazing right now… usually a highlight on the table but it was overshadowed by the heitz.

thanks again to chef michael, jb, and the rest of the staff who did a fantastic job with the food and service. galletos in modesto is on point, but you have to tell them you know buzz

Wow! I had my very first experience with Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet last Friday … It was a 1998 and was beyond gorgeous – the eucalyptus and mint were mind blowing. Such a beautiful wine! Of the 12 wines (chosen by 12 master somms for wine pairings with 4 courses that evening – it was the WOTN by far!!)

So cool to see the older vintage (and my birth year, no less!) doing amazingly well!

Thanks for sharing!

WOW! Insanely dark. So freaking awesome - thanks for posting!

It’s just so sick the 74 Martha’s, in good kit, was seemingly eclipsed.

Love the enthusiasm in your notes on these wines, what an amazing experience. Seems like you have some candidates for WOTY?
Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding night…glad those wines showed so well! Remember…I will be driving up in early April so save some of that stuff!




Cheers!
Marshall

Thanks for the notes. Amazing.