2014 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 750 ml

Perfection. 

That’s the only way a single vintage of Heitz Cellars Martha’s Vineyard could match the glory of the wine’s past, and that’s exactly what we have today in the 2014 Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s the first-ever 100-point wine bearing one of the most iconic labels in California. 

Awash in blackberry compote and currant accented with Martha’s Vineyard’s telltale chocolate and mint, powerful and structured with a palate-coating elegance, this is a Napa Valley masterpiece that captures the essence of this marquee Cabernet in one flawless bottle. 

More than fifty years after Martha’s Vineyard became the Valley’s first single-vineyard Cabernet, the 2014 makes history again, and we have a tiny allocation to share. For the dedicated Cabernet collectors who want to add a perfect piece of Napa Valley lore to their cellar, this benchmark bottling is ready to ship, straight from Napa Valley to your door. 

In the early 1960s, Tom and Martha May moved from Southern California to Napa Valley, where they purchased a property from Barney and Belle Rhodes. The sellers left two bottles of wine at the house as a welcome gift for the new couple.

The wine was from Heitz Cellars, and eventually the Mays met the Heitz family. Tom May had no experience in grape growing, but he started tending grapes on his property guided by Joe Heitz, who quickly recognized the outstanding quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon the Mays’ property was putting forth. 

Joe blended some of that wine into his 1965 Napa Valley bottling, and Tom May requested a barrel of the Cabernet from Martha’s Vineyard as part of the payment for the grapes. Joe tasted the wine and was so impressed that, in 1966, he decided to bottle a single-vineyard Cabernet from the site. 

At a time when the greatest Napa Valley wines simply wore the Napa Valley label, this was monumental. And since that 1966 vintage, Heitz Martha’s Vineyard has stood out as one of Napa Valley’s finest, thanks to the unique site that Tom May and Joe Heitz groomed to greatness. 

Consisting of 34 acres nestled in the folds of the Oakville Bench, Martha’s Vineyard is hidden from view. It features fertile, well-drained soil and receives gentle morning and early afternoon sun, until the Mayacamas Mountains cast their late-day shadow over the vines. This means a long hang time for the grapes, which results in optimal ripeness in the Cabernet berries known for their currant, chocolate, and mint notes. 

The Martha’s Vineyard site has been so renowned for so long that the painstaking work behind the wine is often overlooked. Joe Heitz favored an extremely long elevage that recalls Brunello di Montalcino as much as California Cabernet, and that tradition lives on: The Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet is fermented in stainless steel before spending a year in large neutral American oak casks. It then ages for three years in 100% new French oak before resting another year in bottle before release. 

Now five years after harvest, the 100-point 2014 Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet is ready to anchor the cellars of some of our most dedicated Cabernet collectors. This is a history-making bottle, twice over, and we’re proud to bring it to you.