What a wine! The 1974 Heitz Cellars Napa Valley Pinot Chardonnay was 13% alcohol and had a flavor, at 40 years old, that caressed your mouth like a kiss. It was bottle number 11,005 of the 19,975 produced as noted on the label. It came from, LOT Z-41.
They called Chardonnay, “Pinot Chardonnay” back then, and gave you lots of information about the wine. Too many back-labels sing about the family’s goals, or the winemaker’s dreams. I’d like them to talk about the wine; we’ll look up their history.
It seems too many modern-styled Californian wines think they need lots of alcohol, but they just don’t age well. This 1974 was like an old French Meursault. Balanced, with good acid and a long clean finish that still had fruit notes to tease your palate. It scored a 19 on the 20-point Dionysian scale. That’s almost perfect!
I can’t think of any place in Napa nowadays that makes this style of wine. It married well with a very simple veal dish. Great old wines should take the lead when dancing with food. I wish I could have shared it with all of you. In vino veritas.
Barry C. Lawrence
I’m glad to read this wine aged well, my experience is most Chardonnays don’t age well at all. They have been my single most disappointment as a collector now drinking 40-year-old wines.