Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Brand: Heitz Cellar
SKU: WRW1466AF
Price: 17200 THB
Availability: InStock

฿฿฿฿

SKU:WRW1466AFIn stock

WA96

WS95

Renowned

Rated 95/100 by Wine Spectator (top 14% of their reviews).

From our sommelier team

Martha's Vineyard is a thirty-four-acre parcel in Oakville, on Napa Valley's western bench, set against the Mayacamas mountains. The site gets gentle morning and early afternoon sunlight and is sheltered from the heat of the late afternoon sun by the mountains, with well-drained soil and afternoon shade. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, farmed sustainably and certified organic by CCOF and Certified Fish Friendly Farming. After fermentation it spends a year in neutral oak tanks, then three years in new French Limousin oak wide-grain barrels, and continues to mature in bottle for another full year before release. The house describes its signature as mint, bay leaf, dark berry and chocolate, with a distinctive minty aroma.

The minty, sometimes eucalyptus-like top note is the single most recognisable thing about this wine, and its cause has been argued over for decades: the vineyard is bordered by giant eucalyptus trees, long debated as the source. Heitz's current winemaker, Brittany Sherwood, confirms the giant eucalyptus trees are still there. The four-year oak regime is also unusual in shape — a full year in neutral tanks before the wine ever meets new barrel, which lets the fruit settle before oak is introduced, and then a long, slow three years in wide-grain Limousin, a coarser-pored French oak that is now rarely used for Cabernet.

Producer history

Heitz Cellar was established in 1961 by Joe and Alice Heitz, at a point when the number of Napa Valley wineries had fallen to its lowest since Prohibition. Joe Heitz began buying Cabernet from Tom and Martha May's Oakville vineyard with the 1965 vintage, which went into the regular label; from 1966 he vinified the fruit separately and put the vineyard's name on the label, the first Napa Valley vineyard designate. The vines succumbed to phylloxera and no Martha's Vineyard Cabernet was made for the 1993, 1994 and 1995 vintages. The Heitz family retired in 2018 after 57 years, and ownership passed to the Lawrence family.

Signature pairings

Grilled ribeye with a herb and black pepper crust — Cabernet's tannin binds to the fat and protein of a well-marbled steak, and the char from grilling meets the wine's dark berry and chocolate depth without either side overwhelming the other.
Roast rack of lamb with mint and rosemary — A direct echo pairing: the wine's own mint and bay leaf notes line up with the classic mint-and-herb treatment of lamb, so the herbs read as part of the wine rather than competing with it.
Braised beef cheek with dark soy and star anise (เนื้อตุ๋น) — Slow-braised beef and dark soy give the savoury, slightly sweet depth that carries Cabernet's structure, while the aromatic spices meet the wine's cedar and mint lift. Best without added chilli heat.

Martha's Vineyard represents Heitz Cellar's flagship expression since 1966—a deliberate commitment to single-vineyard Cabernet that predates the modern cult-wine movement by decades. The vineyard sits on the Rutherford Bench, a gravelly alluvial deposit on the valley floor of Napa's mid-valley, where diurnal temperature swings and well-drained soil force ripeness without excess alcohol.

Cabernet Sauvignon from this block undergoes traditional maceration and aging in French oak, with the house style favoring restraint over extraction. The wine carries the vineyard's signature eucalyptus and mint aromatics—a terroir marker so consistent it became the house's calling card. Tannin structure is medium-full and age-worthy, built for 20+ year cellaring rather than immediate consumption.

This vintage demonstrates the balance Heitz has maintained across four decades: ripe dark fruit and graphite minerality without the jammy overripeness that defines many Napa Cabs of the same era. Drinking beautifully now, with 15+ years ahead.