Grape: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
95 Points Decanter
In 1969, Joe Heitz made a cuvée that was more outstanding than his Napa Cabernet, but not a single-vineyard bottling. In 2018, after the winery was bought by Gaylon Lawrence Jr., the team at Heitz discovered four bottles and decided they should set out to recreate Joe’s experiment. It is the boldest of the bunch: a delicious hedonistic pleasure filled red with excellent balance and teeming with pure dark fruit notes, rich earthen spices, dried purple florals, cedarwood, tobacco, and dark chocolate — a firm acid backbone frames fine-grained tannins. There is plenty of richness, balanced by tension and energy. Lawrence Wine Estates Master Sommelier and CEO Carlton McCoy calls it the ‘uber Napa cuvee’ and the best multi-site expression of Heitz for the vintage. Drinking Window: 2023 - 2045
93 Points Wine Spectator
Expressive, with a bold menthol note followed quickly by boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors wrapped in black licorice. The long finish has a tug of earth amid a generally velvety feel, while the menthol note curls around the fruit. Distinctive.
93 Points Wine Enthusiast
This robust, well-structured wine hugs tasty black cherries, black olives and charcoal flavors in firm tannins and will certainly improve and expand with time. Meaty, black peppery accents join with the herbs and black fruits for a complex, concentrated expression.
92 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There's a gentle herbaceousness to the cherry fruit in Heitz's 2018 Lot C-91, making it a bit more like redcurrant than true cherry. A blend of fruit from Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Howell Mountain, it's medium-bodied but more expansive and generous than the regular bottling, with a nice touch of velvet layered in on the mid-palate and a long, fruit-driven finish.
Winemaker Notes
2018 is a spectacular vintage that started off beautifully with abundant spring rains. The generous summer sun and cooler marine influences from San Pablo Bay created the ideal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon. Lot C-91 continues to embody the legacy of Heitz Cellar and the vision for this wine that began in 1969. The fruit comes only from their prized single vineyards and is blended after each parcel has had the opportunity to show its true potential, allowing their winemaker, Brittany Sherwood to select only the most expressive barrels to make the final Cuvee. Always made in the classical style that Joe Heitz pioneered in the early 1960s.
