Heitz Wine Cellars
Winery in California, United States
title: "Heitz Wine Cellars" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wineries-in-napa-valley", "companies-based-in-napa-county,-california", "st.-helena,-california", "american-companies-established-in-1961", "food-and-drink-companies-established-in-1961"] description: "Winery in California, United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitz_Wine_Cellars" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Winery in California, United States ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Winery"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| winery_name | Heitz Cellar |
| winery_logo | [[File:Heitz Cellars Logo.jpg |
| location_city | St. Helena, California |
| location_country | USA |
| appellation | Napa Valley AVA |
| other_labels | |
| year_founded | 1961 |
| key_people | Joe and Alice Heitz, founders |
| Brittany Sherwood, winemaker | |
| parent_company | Lawrence Group |
| signature_wine | Martha's Vineyard Cabernet |
| Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet | |
| Trailside Vineyard Cabernet | |
| varietal1 | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| varietal2 | Chardonnay |
| varietal3 | Sauvignon blanc |
| varietal4 | Grignolino |
| varietal5 | Zinfandel |
| other_product1 | Rosé |
| other_product2 | Fortified wine |
| homepage | www.heitzcellar.com |
| distribution | national |
| tasting | open to the public |
| :: |
| winery_name = Heitz Cellar | winery_logo = [[File:Heitz Cellars Logo.jpg|200px]] | location_city = St. Helena, California | location_country = USA | appellation = Napa Valley AVA | former_name = | other_labels= | year_founded = 1961 | first_vintage = | key_people = Joe and Alice Heitz, founders Brittany Sherwood, winemaker | parent_company =Lawrence Group | cases_per_year = | signature_wine = Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet Trailside Vineyard Cabernet | varietal1 = Cabernet Sauvignon | varietal2 = Chardonnay | varietal3 = Sauvignon blanc | varietal4 = Grignolino | varietal5 =Zinfandel | varietal6 = | varietal7 = | varietal8 = | varietal9 = | varietal10 = | other_product1= Rosé | other_product2= Fortified wine | other_product3= | other_product4= | other_product5= | homepage= www.heitzcellar.com | distribution= national | tasting= open to the public
Heitz Cellar is an American California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".
History
The estate was established in 1961 by Joseph (Joe) and Alice Heitz, during a period when the population of Napa Valley wineries had been reduced to the lowest number since the Prohibition, with about two dozen wineries, at what is recognized as the turning point of Napa's wine industry.
Joe Heitz
Born in Princeton, Illinois, Heitz grew up on a farm and came to California in the 1940s while serving in the Army Air Corps. For most of World War II, he served as a mechanic at an Air Corps base near Fresno. At night and on weekends, he worked various odd jobs which led to work at an Italian Swiss Colony winery setting him on his career path. Heitz found employment under the wine industry extremes, first at Gallo, and then under André Tchelistcheff at Beaulieu Vineyard as an assistant winemaker where he worked for near ten years.
In 1958, he worked as a professor at the Research Center for Viticulture and Enology program at California State University, Fresno for four years.
In 1963 Heitz bought at an auction several barrels of Chardonnay and Pinot noir wine from Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma, the last vintages of the deceased owner James D. Zellerbach's pursuit of Burgundian excellence sold off by his widow. with the original winery retained as a visitor's centre.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Heitz_vineyards_Mark_Brady.jpg" caption="Heitz Wine Cellars vineyards in Napa Valley"] ::
Heitz holds an exclusive agreement with Tom and Martha May, owners of the 34 acre Martha's Vineyard in the Oakville AVA since the first purchase of fruit in 1965 which Heitz blended with other Cabernet, an act considered Heitz' great breakthrough. Later, the 1968 vintage received attention for its quality, widely considered the greatest wine made in America up to that time. It had been 1000 USgal American oak vats, transferred to Limousin barrels where it aged for further two years. Frank J. Prial contended the wine remained "the benchmark by which California cabernets were judged" for more than two decades.
Since 1976, a similar exclusivity agreement has existed with Barney and Belle Rhodes, owners of the 18 acre Bella Oaks Vineyard in the Rutherford AVA.
Following a review by Robert Parker where he wrote about Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon that it "lacked aroma", Joe Heitz sent Parker a box of linen handkerchiefs, insinuating to the critic that he ought to clear his nose.
Joe Heitz suffered a stroke in 1996 which left him frail though lucid. He was described by Warren Winiarski as the first of the Napa Valley artisans and the first to grasp the single vineyard concept.
Modern era
Born in 1950, David Heitz succeeded his father as winemaker in the late 1970s, having worked at the estate for many years. In 1984 the estate purchased the Trailside Vineyard in Rutherford, having previously purchased fruit from the site, introduced as a single vineyard bottling in 1989.
During the late 1980s and early 90s there were reports of TCA taint, or in alternate claims Brettanomyces yeast infection, in the Heitz cellars that were eventually overcome, and Tom Stevenson has criticized American wine writers for not daring to "tell the late king he had no clothes on at the time".
In the early 90s, the Bella Oaks Vineyard suffered from the disease eutypa and replanting became necessary. No 1991 and 1992 vintages were made of this cuvée. Also in the early 90s, phylloxera afflicted Martha's Vineyard, and no vintages were made in the mid-1990s.
In 2018, Heitz was acquired by Gaylon Lawrence, Jr.
Brittany Sherwood is the winemaker at Heitz and has been there since 2012.
Competitions
The 1970 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon appeared in several wine tasting competitions, including the "Judgment of Paris" tasting, where it placed ninth out of the ten red wines, and its subsequent 'rematches'. In the San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 it placed second out of seven wines, in the French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986 it placed seventh out of nine wines, in the Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986 it placed first out of ten wines, and in the 2006 "Judgment of Paris" 30th Anniversary tasting it tied for a third place out of ten wines.
Production
The estate amasses 375 acre of vineyards, in addition to its purchase agreements, Vines are cultivated by organic principles per certification. Heitz Cellar annually produces approximately 40000 winecase of wine.
Heitz works with a number of grape varieties grown in several American Viticultural Areas including Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and the greater Napa Valley. In addition to several vineyard designated Cabernet Sauvignon that are often aged in oak for three and half years, Heitz also produces varietal labeled wines from Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Grignolino and Zinfandel. Other wines include a dry rosé made from Grignolino and fortified "port-style" wine from Portuguese grape varieties like Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Souzão, Tinta Cao, Tinta Bairrada, Tinta Madeira, Tinta Amarela and Bastardo.
References
References
- (2020-10-27). "3 of the biggest U.S. farmers". Successful Farming.
- Johnson, Hugh. (1989). "The Story of Wine". Mitchell Beazley.
- Brook, Stephen. (1999-10-01). "The Wines of California". Faber and Faber.
- Stevenson, Tom. (2005). "The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia". Dorling Kindersley.
- Farmer, Lyn. "Those '70s Guys - California's Most Influential Winemaking Generation". The Wine News.
- (December 18, 2000). "Napa Valley Legend Joe Heitz Dies".
- Prial, Frank J.. (December 23, 2000). "Joseph Heitz, 81, a Standout In California Winemaking". [[The New York Times]].
- "Joseph E. Heitz Dies At 81".
- Carson, L. Pierce. (June 6, 2008). "Heitz family chairs 28th wine auction". [[Napa Valley Register]].
- Goldfarb, Alan. (September 3, 2007). "Heitz and Seek - Former Cult Favorite Heitz Wine Cellars Hasn't Changed A Thing".
- Carson, L. Pierce. (January 3, 2001). "Wine pioneer Joe Heitz dies at 81". [[Napa Valley Register]].
- Mobley, Esther. (2018-04-19). "Napa winery Heitz sold to Arkansas agriculture giant".
- "Women Winemakers of California and Beyond {{!}}Brittany Sherwood".
- Asher, Gerald. "Wine Journal: The Judgment of Paris Revisited".
- Murphy, Linda. (June 1, 2006). "Judgment Day: Part Deux / What the 2006 showdown between California and France really proves". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
- Murphy, Linda. (May 25, 2006). "California wines beat the French – again". San Francisco Chronicle.
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