Paul J

9.4

Same as previous note. Very nice! Went well with the burger. Also had the ‘96 Spottswoode and ‘13 Nickel & Nickel CC Ranch Cab. — 19 days ago

with Brooke

AEL

9.0

A bit young. Bright, light red in color, crushed raspberry, cherries, dried flowers, dirt, maybe a mint/menthol note on the nose. Sharp on the palate. Traditional, and great. Bottle from Doug. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.6

Medium lemon colour . Lovely lemon, buttered pastry nose , still so fresh and lively . Mineral with a honeysuckle note , touch of blanched almond . On the palate quite rich and complex , with high acidity and mineral , honied , brioche notes , still quite fresh though with lots of creamy lemon hints. Long mineral tinged finish . Lovely now and over the next 5-10 years . — 3 months ago

Aylin Ulku

9.7

Spectacular We have stored this for 11 years and enjoyed it for our 5th anniversary, paired with lamb shank and lamb chops. opens beautifully perfect time to drink. Initially the finish had notes of leather, hint of dark fried fruit. — 4 months ago

Scott E. Becker

9.3

[Tasted on January 25, 2025 at Home with Tom, Kathy, Mark and Lucille]

84% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5.5% Merlot; 5.5% Cabernet Franc; 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Blackberry and black currant fruit, with chocolate, espresso, earth and a mineral note. Nicely balanced. — 12 days ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.2

A 5th Growth from the left bank of Bordeaux that never disappoints. Multi-layered, enticing aromas of red fruit, leathery and dried leaf, raising and date fruits, makes this earthy wine a nice option. Had the 2013 vintage and still delivers. Solid tannins, dry and not so aggressive on the mid-range of the palate. Silky finish. — a month ago

Kamall

9.0

Zesty ocean spray — 4 months ago

TriShan

9.0

Let it breathe. Smooth. Good with steak. Ok with chocolate. Nice aroma after sitting in the glass. — 7 months ago

Shay A

9.2

Still sporting the $12.99 sticker that this was many years ago. Just under top of shoulder fill. Cork was fantastic.

A few of the other early ‘80s wines I’ve opened from this same acquisition needed time to open up and blow off funk, but this was ready from the get go. At its age (and provenance), the wine is translucent ruby with bricking at the rim and shows classic Pauillac notes (graphite, leather, cassis) with tart red fruits, herbs and some pipe tobacco. Still retaining acidity and a decent amount of tannin at the finish. A unique high-toned/mint note came around aromatically ever so often and would fade.

Followed out of bottle during the evening and it stayed consistent. — 13 days ago

Shay A

9.5

After missing a ‘70s and ‘80s Heitz vertical many years ago, I vowed to seek out a bottle as all the comments from the tasting were astoundingly positive. My last bottle of Heitz Martha’s was the ‘01 (which was great) a few years ago, but at 46yrs, this was quite the experience.

The ‘78 has a bit of a legendary status, so expectations were high. Upon opening, the cork was in good shape (sigh of relief) and the color was unbelievably dark ruby with some bricking (another sigh of relief). The singular signature menthol/eucalyptus began to fill the glass, alongside aromatics of red berry fruits, espresso, some sort of sweet brown sugar/caramel note, and a savory-graphite type note too. Beautifully elegant on the palate with more red fruit, herbs (bay leaf?), and even some pipe tobacco (subdued, not in your face), but it sports the classical old Napa cab profile that is pure. Spectacular wine, and I could simply smell the wine all day…the aromatics were so powerful the entire time.

Open in bottle for three hours and powered through the entire time. Wish I had another so I could have the same experience! — 2 months ago