99 Points for Classic Napa Cabernet ($69.95)

For more than half a century, Heitz Napa Valley Cabernet has stood as a benchmark for the region. Few names are as synonymous with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon; it unquestionably belongs among the valley’s handful of true icons and remains a standard-bearer for New World Cabernet as a whole.

What I’ve always admired about Heitz – both under its original ownership and now with Lawrence Wine Estates – is its unwavering commitment to its own vision. The wines have never chased fashion, nor bent to the fleeting preferences of critics. A steadfast dedication to estate farming, traditional winemaking, and a clearly defined house style has always set Heitz apart from the crowd.

A visit to the old stone winery tucked into the hills east of St. Helena – still home to massive, antique (and very much in use) oak foudres – perfectly illustrates how deeply rooted in tradition these wines are. Longtime winemaker Brittany Sherwood deserves tremendous credit for maintaining remarkable continuity through the 2018 change in ownership. Quality remains as high as ever, with the wines staying true to their historic style.

The 2021 vintage at Heitz is simply spectacular. A year that played directly into the hands of a producer with exceptional vineyard holdings and a philosophy centered on longevity. A small, deeply concentrated crop delivered power and structure in abundance. True to form, the wines underwent an extended élevage – more than two years in a combination of French oak barrels and large-format neutral foudre, followed by a minimum of another year in bottle before release.

That patience in the winery’s cellar means you don’t have to wait: the wine is already beautifully polished and primed for decades of graceful evolution in your cellar. The 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet is a blend of estate and single-vineyard sources. As one of the largest landowners in the valley, with over 400 acres of organically farmed vineyards, Heitz has an extraordinary palette of sites from which to draw. The core of the wine comes from the famed Trailside Vineyard in Rutherford, with contributions from Howell Mountain, Oakville, St. Helena, Calistoga, and Oak Knoll.

In the glass, the wine is both classic and compelling. Aromas of lavender, briar patch, cedar, and tobacco lead into a dark, concentrated fruit profile of blackcurrant, mulberry coulis, and bittersweet baker’s chocolate, with subtle menthol notes lending lift and freshness to the black and blue fruits. Medium-plus in body with impressive concentration and flavor, it remains poised and never heavy – no overt oak sweetness, just pure, expressive Cabernet character. If you were to look up “Classic Napa Cabernet” in the dictionary, this wine would be a fitting illustration. Proof, once again, that when something isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix it.

— Ryan Woodhouse, K&L Domestic Wine Buyer