I have three bottles of '99 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon (not Martha’s) that I was able to pick up at auction for not too much money. I was hoping to open one this weekend and give it a run. Generally what is everyone’s thought on serving? Decant, Pop and Pour? The latest cellar tracker touch point shows it opening up around 30 minutes after pouring with a recommendation of a 1 hour decant. Seems reasonable enough, but that also feels like the “92 points” of serving recommendations.
As a side note, they are sitting in my cellar at a cool 55*, but on their side. Should I have stood one up last weekend and really need to do that first and wait it out or just a careful decant?
This is one of my first forays into something nearing the 20 year mark that I wasn’t just handed a glass of.
I haven’t had this wine but have had many others from the vintage. If me, I’d decant and serve immediately. It may take a few minutes to come around but I haven’t had any that needed hours and most were fine as PnP. I don’t know how much sediment to expect from this wine so stand up prior if possible to be on the safe side.
I finally got around to opening one of these bottles last night. Cellartracker note is below. If I can find more wine like this at a reasonable price I would back fill Napa Cabs until the cows come home. I paid $59 for this bottle earlier in the year, the current release is $63, at this price for something with 20 years of age its a no brainer in my book. Although I feel like if I don’t get the current releases of things like this I am going to short change my 55 year old self. The joys of backfilling and forward filling at the same time! Double the purchases and double the fun.
We paired it with Flannery’s waygu new your “pave” steaks, roasted asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms. I seared the steaks in a cast iron pan for 90 seconds per side and finished for about 10 minutes at 350* in the oven. My wife’s came out perfect, mine was a little thinner and could have used 2 minutes less but was still delicious. The mushrooms were a mix of shiitakes, trumpets, and beech browned in duck fat and finished with salt and pepper. Truthfully I could have just eaten a huge bowl of the mushrooms with the wine and been more than satisfied, they came out that well.
1999 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California, Napa Valley (2/17/2019)
This one is still going strong and has a few more years left in the bottle. The cork was surprisingly in great shape with wine only 5% up the length of the cork and the rest in wonderful condition. Some sediment on the cork and in the bottle, but nothing a quick decant didn’t take care of.
As for the wine: Lots of fruit, currents and maybe some dark cherry balanced by secondary notes of earth and mushroom. There was a dustiness in the finish that took about an hour to go away, but wasn’t necessarily unenjoyable when it was present. This tasted exactly like I want a 20 year old Napa wine to taste, not mind blowing, but a solid Saturday night wine.
Wine evolved for 3 hours in decanter and glass, years left in this one. (91 pts.)
Sounds like a great meal to go with the wine. I didn’t care for 1999s when released but I am liking them a lot now. If you find it, 1999 Dunn Napa Cab is fantastic.
Just opened a '98 Martha’s on Friday night. I double decanted and it was drinking wonderfully by dinner. Still evolved over the half hour or so in our glasses at dinner. I did an hour in the decanter then poured it back in bottle for two hours before pouring back into the decanter 30min before serving.