Heitz Cellar helped invent the idea of the great Napa single vineyard wine. Founded in 1961 at a low point for the valley, it became famous for one of the most collected Cabernets in America, the Martha’s Vineyard bottling.

A winery built at the bottom

Joe and Alice Heitz founded the cellar in 1961, when Napa had been reduced to roughly two dozen working wineries, near its lowest count since Prohibition. Joe Heitz grew up on a farm in Princeton, Illinois, and came to California in the 1940s while serving in the Army Air Corps. He learned winemaking from the ground up and arrived with a clear conviction that Napa could make wines of real distinction.

The Martha’s Vineyard breakthrough

Heitz began buying fruit from Tom and Martha May vineyard in Oakville in 1965. From the 1966 vintage he vinified that fruit separately and named the vineyard on the label, an act now seen as his great breakthrough. Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet is widely credited as the first American wine to champion the single vineyard designation, and its mint tinged, ageworthy style became a benchmark. Heitz was also an early American exponent of French oak.

A new chapter

In 2018, after more than five decades of family ownership, Heitz Cellar was acquired by the Lawrence family of Memphis, a farming family with extensive land holdings across the South and Midwest. The new owners have invested in the vineyards and cellar while preserving the classic, restrained Heitz style that built the winery reputation.

What to pour it with

Heitz Cabernets, and the Martha’s Vineyard in particular, are structured and savory. Pair them with grilled ribeye, herb crusted lamb, or a mushroom and thyme braise. Give younger vintages time in the decanter to let the aromatics open.

Common questions