2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

In the annals of California viniculture, Heitz Cellar occupies a distinguished place as one of THE classic producers of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon—a godfather of the bristling, stately style that defines blue-chip Napa Cabs to this day.

A source of “iconic wine since 1966,” according to Vinous founder Antonio Galloni, Heitz Cellar “remains a bastion of traditionally made wines in Napa Valley,” and their bold, long-lived Cabernets have been endlessly imitated. But there’s only one Heitz—and one unbroken thread of Cabernet excellence running through 60 storied vintages—which is why you’ll see deep verticals of this label in the cellar of any serious Napa collector or self-respecting chophouse.

Heitz is an outlier in Napa Valley because they don’t release their Cabernets until five years after harvest, and their outstanding 2016 was grown in a vintage Decanter called “unquestionably one of the finest for California Cabernet in the past two decades.”

One sip and you’re reveling in the very definition of old-school Napa Cabernet, shaped in 2016 by a cool August that enabled a long hang time and spawned beautifully ripened berries.  A bounty of intense aromas leaps out of the glass: black cherry and wild raspberry accented by dried roses and lilacs, leather, and cassis. It’s lively, deep, and structured, with layers of tar, tobacco, and herbs heaped over a bed of graphite, culminating in a lengthy, spice-tinged finish.

Calling a wine a “must-buy” is ultimately a subjective statement, but let’s put it this way: For those with even a passing interest in the iconic wines of Napa Valley, the 2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon is always a slam-dunk.