Heitz Cellar, Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

From Magnum. Popped cork one hour before drinking, then poured into decanter to grab sediment (there was not too much), then drank at guys' dinner at Osso steakhouse (SF). Color was deep crimson, opaque, with not much bricking at corner. Aromas were secondary but still also primary fruit present. Mature but definitely has life left, probably 5-10 years no problem, at least from magnum. Round pleasant elegant wine. Nothing profound but very drinkable. I always seem to find that Heitz …

2007 vintage

Brought to Rooney's. Coravin taste the previous night led me to believe this was more ready than the '04 and close to the end. However, when opened and decanted, this drank much younger than I had expected and there were still some noticeable tannins. So I think these have considerably more life left than I thought, and perhaps even more for the '04. Pushing back drinking windows for both.

2007 vintage

12 years has passed since I enjoyed the other bottle that I bought. This has arrived. Cool and blue, restrained Napa fruit. Tannins fully resolved. Stones. Good depth, focus and balance. Even better on day 2. No hurry at all. At home with Niels.

1991 vintage

Tasted double blind. A great vintage for Napa + a winery I like + 30 years in a cellar should make for a spectacular wine. This bottle, however, showed port-like fruit, I don‘t like that much, and still was powerful and young. The complexity, on the other hand, was quite impressive. TN: A bit muted on the nose at first, with time more and more expressive with lots of very ripe fruit, lots of licorice and herbs. On the palate …

1991 vintage

Beautiful wine with many years left. Perfect color and fill. Opened pretty immediately with classic California cabernet notes. Good balance and some elegance.

1989 vintage

San Sebastian, Maj 2023 From this excellent vintage this wine shines, with medium dryness, well developed fruit, it is rich and meaty, just perfect & rather youthfull, ballanced and no sign of alcohol, it had the eucalyptus nose but it was just very elegant and deep - needed 1 hour decant,

1991 vintage

Filtered and decanted for about 30 min, drank over about 90 min, served with ribeye steaks. This was excellent- other descriptions of "balanced" and "harmonious" are spot on. Blackberry, dark fruit, hint of cassis, then touch of bitter dark chocolate, maybe a little graphite, very soft/minimal tannins, medium-long finish. A well-aged cabernet, fruit is fading a little so definitely time to drink, but still excellent.

2007 vintage

Served blind. In fine form today, drinking well out of the gate. Some warm brick red fruits. Eucalyptus is there. This had enough spice and pretty green notes (and lovely resolution), that I thought it was a younger burgundy. A lot of fun to try, hadn’t had an 80s Heitz in a few years….

1989 vintage

I liked, didn’t love, rest of table so so. Heitz has its devotees, its unique, I think you love it or don’t.

2007 vintage

Still going strong in October 2021. The fruit has dried and tannins have softened but they come together in a beautiful and balanced structure.

2007 vintage

The perfect window.

2007 vintage

Really liked this wine. Best description is 'balance' and 'harmony'. The wine is in a beautiful place right now and drinking very well. Smooth and supple with some aged 'funk' to the wine. A real winner.

2007 vintage

Deep ruby Lovely currant and a hint of cedar Ripe dark rich cherry fruit, really coming together Perfect window right now

2007 vintage

Very nice cab. Big mouthful of fruit and spice, tannins pretty much gone. Went very well with a grilled ribeye. Wish I had more.

2007 vintage

One of my all-time wines...never disappoints, and is always a true pleasure to open one! Still quite dark and youthful in color...absolute KILLER nose of berry liqueur, leather, dusty old wine cellar, cedar, dried herbs...bayleaf, mint. Silky smooth in the mouth...juicy and perfectly balanced sweetness to dryness...blackberry, currants, plum, black cherry...framed in solid structure of dusty dry plush tannins, oak barrel spice, some tart cherry skin acidity for lift. Really drinks young...blind maybe a 10yr old...showing some subtle aged notes …

1991 vintage

At 29 years very impressive. Smooth and elegant. Light brown edges, but still an example of what perfect cellaring does for an old high quality Cab. Likely should be consumed in the next two to three years, but in ten it won’t be bad. Heitz is Napa before Parker, Trailside is Heitz.

1991 vintage

This needed 2 hours of decanting to open up. It still has some life left.

1991 vintage

Perfect wine. Spice and black pepper immediately with a nice finish. Still drinking beautiful and wish I had more bottles.

2007 vintage

Just a great wine. Love it from start to finish. Tight spice immediately upon opening. After resting and decanting close to perfect.

2007 vintage

Past prime by a year or two but still good. Very soft on the palate. Mud decant!!

1991 vintage

Roströd i färgen, börjar dra åt bruna hållet Svarta vinbär, körsbär, mycket kaffe och även en del ceder. En del mognadstoner men inte alls så mycket som jag förväntade mig. Oerhört vital frukt, en helt grym längd och intensitet

1989 vintage

Not nearly as good as the 06 Trailside at this point.

2007 vintage

Second tasting of this lovely wine, 5 years after the first. Age has softened it considerably but our original notes still on target.

2007 vintage

Decanted and consumed two hours later. Bright fruit and long, long finish. Really lovely. Drinking well at present.

2007 vintage

Au nez j'aurais dit un st-emilion. Très bonne longueur, soyeux, c'est bien intégré. A l'aveugle je me serais sûrement fait avoir et dit un Bordeaux. C'est vraiment bon. J'ai de la difficulté à mettre le doigt sur des arômes mais c'est droit et délicieux. Je préfère de loin barton et Calon pour moins cher par contre.

2007 vintage

Thumbs up! Really perked up after decant

2007 vintage

Jammy as all hell. Juicy blackberry liquor. Lots of spice happening as well: cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, oaky.

2007 vintage

Our Super Bowl wine, good flavor, somewhat old fashioned(a good thing) not a fruit bomb, good tannins balance the fruit, 14.5 alcohol which caught up to me, a nice sipping wine, drank with nachos, wings and ribs, the wine just drank nicely although we did not finish the bottle, would drink again.

2007 vintage

One of my all-time favorite Heitz wines...never has disappointed, and continues to show its immortality. Total cork failure though...funny, as I was just telling a friend how great Heitz corks are...so of course this one crumbled in the bottle. Well...didn't affect the wine at all, except for some cork bits. Dark as a barrel sample...plum, black cherry, currants, blackberry fruits...wonderful dusty old cellar/cedar spice, dried herbs, graphite powder. Silky smooth on the palate, yet plenty of structure for future age...in …

1991 vintage

Gorgeous silky balanced cab. Inky dark. Seamless. Black cherry, dusty coco and eucalyptus.

2007 vintage

Superb. French style built from terroir foundation: coffee, leather, cocoa filled out with Cassis berries and ooph to give pause. Only getting better.

2007 vintage

Wonderful notes of carmel and dark fruit. Still bright acidity.

1989 vintage

Amazing juice! Well balanced, awesome fruit, plus nice tannins to complement steak, and enough acidity to drink over a meal

2007 vintage

Dark, restricted underlying black fruits , blueberries and note of tobacco, earthy, and hints of menthol and dusty tannins. 90.7 points.

2007 vintage

Nice Cabernet at a nice price. Deep opaque purple in color. There are oak, spice, earth, anise, and red fruit flavors. Medium to full bodied with a nice, long finish.

2007 vintage

A bit closed upon opening. Would recommend a two hour decant. Dark berries on the nose with cedar and saddle leather that continue on the palate. Smooth sweet tannins lead to a long dusty finish. Drink Now-2025.

2007 vintage

Eclectic mix of wines with friends, from 1964 Barolo to 2002 Palmer (Strasbourg) : Full of fruit and yet nuanced with a graphite feel, and some licorice. For a wine that is nearly 25 years old, it tastes youthful vibrant and complex. Really a super highlight this evening. There is still tannin to shed and owners of this should not be afraid to cellar it for a few more years, especially if they have more than 6 bottles.

1991 vintage

Popped and poured. Needed about an hour of air to show its stuff. A bit muted on opening but gained depth and sweetness over time. Intense purity of fruit and rounded silky mouthfeel. Good showing and I'd say these have at least 10 years of peak drinking left.

1991 vintage

Heitz, Heitz, Heitz and Heitz : Tasting note to follow

1991 vintage

As a testament to Heitz's ability to create such long lived, delicious cabernet's, the 1991 displays it in spades. Actually, going through the notes of other members, MrBuzz's, back in 2007, still rings very true today. Amazing color-bright red with minimal fusha towards the rim that is clear enough to see through the other side of the glass. While a bit closed at first, with a little bit of air (20-.30 minutes) the wine really starts to strut its stuff. …

1991 vintage

Happy to say NOT DEAD! Much better than I expected, drinking very nicely, no bricking, medium bodied, tanins fully resolved. Still had fruit. I liked this bottle a lot. 89 pts. and storage was not perfect.

1989 vintage

Visstnok en middels årgang, men i såfall er middels årganger i Napa like genialt som i Medoc. Litt søtlig og rik nese, var innom en litt kokt fase men reddet seg ut igjen. Modne kirsebær og solbær, tobakk, lær, treverk, lakris, vanilje. Litt krydret frukt, uten at jeg tenker fatkrydder

1989 vintage

Rich, powerful black cassis fruit, with a fair bit of chocolate and some cedary notes showing the development, but it's rich and powerful in the old-school cali cab way and not in the extracted/sweet/fleshy modern style, and shows deft balance. The tannins are chewy and aren't close to resolving yet and I'd say this is still several years from peak. A really good wine if a fair step down from the 91 Martha's I had last year.

1991 vintage

Interesting to taste up against the 1994 Meyney. More pushed, more extracted, more weight and volume compared to the Meyney. The oak is fully integrated but it still leaves marks of chocolate and cedar. I like this, but I am not crazy about it.

1991 vintage

Maybe 92 - excellent bottle.

1991 vintage

Medium red. some bricking. Heavy char American oak leads the nose in a good way, followed with cherry, leather, and a vague herbal note. Low acid, low tannin. Smooth in the mouth and completely mature, the wine could pass for a well-aged Silver Oak Napa cabernet from the period: a bit straightforward perhaps, but pleasing.

1991 vintage

Heitz and deer (Heitz und Hirsch mit René Gabriel) (Restaurant Sempacherhof) : 90-92 Rating, What a surprise from such a difficult vintage, actually better than the Martha's from the same vintage. bubble gum, red berries, dense

1989 vintage

BWN - Huh! Not expecting much from this 18-year-old cab from a bad vintage, in fact I brought a back up bottle thinking this wine could be dead. Open the bottle to aromas of cedar, black licorice, cranberry and somewhat subdue fruit. Rated 89 points. Came back to it in an hour expecting this to total fall apart and was in for a surprise! It actually picked up weight and the fruit set was filling the room with cherry, strawberry …

1989 vintage

barnyard, cassis, cigar. intergrated and balanced, good fruit, raspberry.

1989 vintage

Blackcurrant, raspberry, liquorice, menthol and earth. The fruit is showing some age to it. Well balanced with a smooth finish. Quite impressive for such an old Napa Cabernet. 13.5% alcohol.

1989 vintage

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Heitz Cellar, Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

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