1974 Heitz Cellars Napa Valley Pinot Chardonnay

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.

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1 Comment

  1. 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.

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