Heitz Lot C-91 2018 (750ml)

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.

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.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91 is a blend from lots that show a bit more early approachability. All of the fruit is from estate vineyards. There's quite a bit of character and complexity here. Strong savory accents meld into a core of dark fruit. The tannins are a bit rustic, but then again, that's why these lots did not go into the vineyard designates.