1989 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Heitz Cellar is one of Napa Valley's founding names. Joe and Alice Heitz established the winery in 1961, and Joe is credited with championing single-vineyard designation in American wine — the idea that a great Napa site deserves its own label. By 1989, his son David had long since taken over winemaking, carrying the house style of structured, age-worthy Cabernet forward.

The 1989 vintage brought generous yields and a cool growing season, interrupted by September rains — an uneven year across Napa where vineyard site and harvest timing made all the difference. Heitz's long-lived, classically built Cabernets were made for exactly this kind of patience, and 37 years on, this bottle is a time capsule from Napa's pre-cult era.

Wine Spectator reviewed this wine on release in 1994, opening its note 'intense and lively, rich and supple.' Mature Heitz is a rare find outside of auction — this is a drink-now bottle for anyone who loves aged Napa Cabernet's tobacco, cedar and dried-fruit register.