TN: 1969 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon C-91

Bumping my note on this wine cuz it looks like Heitz is making it again. How much you want to bet there is NO Martha’s in it though?

  • 1969 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon C-91 - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/12/2019)
    The story goes that when Joe Heitz came close to running out of selling the reg Napa bottling, and the precious Martha’s was still resting in barrel, he would dip into the Martha barrels and bottle this wine, the C-91, so he could continue to sell wine to his loyal customers.
    Little concern for this bottle as the ullage was down to the shoulder…but after the cork came out in one piece…the wine was in fine shape! Still quite dark and youthful looking…amply fruit with slight sweetness…plum, currants, dried cherry…soft and delicate structure with a beautiful polished sheen…very complex, showing classic Heitz mint/euc/dried herbs nuances…dusty old cellar cedar spice…leather, mixed nuts…drank well till the end. (95 pts.)

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They probably would have said Martha’s was included if it was. That’s a bummer.

They’ve definitely changed since they have been sold. I have very little Heitz in my collection but those older Martha’s are amazing.

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I had some 70’s era C block maybe 15 years ago, it was amazing, had almost liquid toothpaste flavors.

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The 67’ regular bottling had some Martha’s in it as well. As for the 69’ Martha’s, it was Joe’s favorite wine of all as he told me in the early 80’s when I was buying a case of 74’ Martha’s at the winery (for the then expensive $576). Because his son had made the 74’ while Joe was in the hospital with back issues, Joe was not as partial to it as wines Joe himself had made. Ultimately, I guess we’re splitting hairs as all of the wines from them in that era were extraordinary.

That 1969 C-91 was just fantastic. One of the best birthyear wines I have ever had. Sheesh, where have 11.5 years gone since I had this?

  • 1969 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon C-91 - USA, California, Napa Valley (11/8/2009)
    Opened for my 40th. John Gilman wrote a fantastic review of this wine that sums it up. It’s a baby Heitz Martha’s with huge notes of mint and eucalyptus bursting from the decanter the moment is is opened. Smoke and underbrush join the party as well. Wow, what a palate, totally silken and resolved, fresh and juicy, just gorgeous yesteryear Cabernet from Napa, classic, bright red fruit, supple, gorgeous balance. Not tired in the least. Really stunning. (93 pts.)

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Kind of like the new Heitz label…and I kind of don’t? The old one is SO classic!

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Every year an East Bay gent on the way to his accountant in Marin County would purchase Heitz and Mouton for his vertical collections. We had Heitz wines going back to a 1959 with a handwritten in pencil label and Moutons back to 1928. Eventually, he joined the Wine Weasel tasting group and we were fortunate to taste several of his bottles over the years, double blind. Mint was the tip off to Robbie’s bottles.
I also drank older Heitz and other great juice on Sat afternoons at the shop. We locked the door at noon and with two or three clients joining us, we educated ourselves about the finest and rarest French and CA wines firsthand. I truly loved my work and the philosophy of our having to know those wines literally in our faces. The sleeper of the Heitz 1970’s for me was the 79 Martha’s. I agree with Stan, the 1968-70 Martha’s is one of the best trios of one winery’s consecutive vintages I ever had the pleasure of drinking, behind the 1947-49 Cheval Blancs.

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Buzz the color on your glass is so fine.

Better pic…

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I think it’s entirely possible that this cuvée includes Martha’s, but they probably deliberately didn’t want to disclose that for fear of it diluting the Martha’s brand, which sells for a much higher price than the C-91. They understood that they could remain silent about the Martha’s component and keep the mystique going.

I opened a C-91 on Friday and it sure tastes like it has some Martha’s in it. There is that distinct eucalyptus nose that Martha’s has. I ordered a case upon offering and immediately ordered a second after drinking half the bottle. I expected it to be a step up from the regular Nap bottling, but this far exceeded my expectations.

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The 2016 and 2017 are both 30% Marthas.

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All the wines in the market were al made by the family with the exception of the Quartz Creek Chardonnay. We acquired Heitz from the family in mid 2018. We took over winemaking alongside Brittany in 2019. I can assure you that there has been very little change in winemaking since the 60’s.

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Odd that they didn’t mention that in the video… but from reviewers descriptions including Gerald Asher’s 2012 book “A Carafe of Red,” there appears to be a lot more Martha’s in the 1969 C-91… In fact, Asher did a comparison tasting with the 68 and 69 Martha’s and he liked the 69 C-91, the best!

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