1981 Heitz Martha's Vineayrd

[TheEngineer]

This was a nice treat for me. This bottle was out of magnum and the fill was terrific (still into neck). Pulled after a very long rest from my cellar for a dinner with some Bordeaux Owners (Second Growth). The nose was still very attractive, the eucalyptus still very prominent, but the rest is a bit more muddled, fruit leaving but secondary and tertiary notes not quite there yet. Perhaps not touched at the optimal time for the magnum. On the palate, the first thing you notice is the density of the wine. It must have been massive in its day. Today, it is dominated by the earth, tobacco, dark berries and some dried fruits. It was a pleasure to taste this wine and see the history.

Tasted side by side interestingly with a 98 Barton and a 2000 Torbeck. Torbeck won out with its huge mass of fruit but the Martha's was in better shape than the Barton. In Mags and bigger, there might be some interest in letting this sit for a bit longer (for vertical comparisons) but for 750's I'd recommend that you start consuming these soon.

[winoweenie]

Joe was a good friend of mine. He and Alice have been in my humble abode several times( whenever they were in Phoenix we managed to get together) and they were 2 of the most genuine people you'd ever want to be around. I started buying his wines with the 1970 edition and went on the market and managed to pickup every vintage of Marthas back to the 1966. I put on a tasting of a vertical of these suckers from the 66 through the 76. Killer juice. They served the 75 out of magnum at his daughters' wedding. I've never even thought of trying to pick a favorite vintage as they were so consistently outstanding it would be impossible for me. WW