“A Grand Cru in the purest spirit of the word.” – Wine Spectator

THE Martha’s. As iconic a Napa Cab as it gets.

(and we snuck some Trailside into the Store for the day!)

With 96 points and at the best price around?! Like by far! Yesterday some competitor put it out for $25 more! So, hop on, gang. Glide, slip, and slide into this fantastic Cabernet voyage with us…

Under his mentor André ‘the Maestro’ Tchelistcheff’s guidance, Joe Heitz’s first harvest was in 1961, and up until 1965, he made one Cabernet from the best possible fruit he could source. One of those sources was a vineyard called Martha’s, and it stood out so much in the blend, that in 1966, Heitz made history by releasing the first single vineyard Napa Cabernet ever. Martha’s Vineyard stood the test of time.

The legacy of Martha’s is so towering that this recognition is dwarfed by superlatives that have been collecting around this icon for 6 decades since its humble origins.

Eric Asimov of The New York Times says it best: “The Heitz method of making Cabernet Sauvignon, with a premium on high acidity and low pH, runs counter to many cherished current beliefs about how great wine ought to be produced. Many Napa Cabernets might have been made with similar methods back in the 1970s. But today? Heitz is practically singular. Half a century ago, since shortly after Joe and Alice Heitz bought a small property in 1961 in St. Helena, Heitz Cellar’s Cabernet Sauvignons, particularly its Martha’s Vineyard bottles, were among the most prized wines produced in Napa Valley.”

Just this past Friday, this bottle of 2017 Martha’s stood out in our panel, monumentally, like The Great Pyramid of Giza. What earned that comparison was the early signs of a “Barolo-like finesse combined with the elegance of Pommard,” as Decanter once waxed poetic for a perfectly mature Martha’s. Just hitting its stride with almost a decade on the vintage, it’s getting life-affirmingly good.

Stake your claim in history, you don’t see a deal this good on a library Martha’s every day.

96 Points – Decanter “From the legendary Martha’s Vineyards at the base of the Mayacamas in Western Oakville near To Kalon. It is a lovely, harmonious, richly textured wine with plushness and decadence that remains impressively light. Leads with dark berry flavours, savoury brown spices, bright plummy notes, dark chocolate shavings and mint. Further complexities emerge of ironstone and charcuterie. Medium- to full-bodied with rich black cherry and spiced plum fruit, intermixed with sweet earthen hummus notes, tobacco, and leather. Pops of wild herbs carry through the finish, underscored by soft, almost powdery tannins and bright acid tension. There’s a special quality in the air around Martha’s Vineyard because of the towering eucalyptus trees along the eastern parameter where the Martha’s Vineyard clone takes on some of those minty notes. Drink 2023-2045.”