2012 Estate Cuvée

Kapcsándy moves from strength to strength with these current and upcoming releases. The 2012s continue to blossom in bottle, even though this is the lightest-bodied and most accessible vintage of the 2012-2013-2014 trio here. Things get more serious with the 2013s, wines that confirm the towering presence and profoundness they showed when I first tasted them in Spring 2014. And then there are the 2014s, which might turn out to be the most precise wines of the bunch. Lou Kapcsándy puts the current set of vintages in perspective, commenting that at his State Lane Vineyard, he saw 11 days with temperatures over 100 degrees in 2013. That number crept up to 12 in 2014, although there were no back-to-back days with those temperatures. In 2015, though, the vineyard saw 26 days with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, including a stretch of 5 consecutive days at those levels. Winemaker Denis Malbec adds that lengthened macerations a touch in 2013 to soften the tannins and shortened time on the skins in 2014, which is the opposite of what most winemakers did. Lou Kapcsándy, his son Louis, and winemaker Denis Malbec offer more context in this short video, which I shot on the last day of the 2015 harvest.

"If you can't make a great wine in 2012, you should get another job," Lou Kapcsandy told me matter-of-factly towards the end of the harvest that year. Well, the 2012s have indeed turned out beautifully here. But the 2013s are even better. The truth is the entire lineup is superb this year, starting with the dry Furmint all the way to the sweet Vino del Sol. The 2012 reds are supple and gracious, while the 2013s show the darker fruit and greater structure that is typical of the vintage. All the wines are made from Kapcsandy's State Lane vineyard in Yountville, one of Napa Valley's most historic sites.

This is another superb set of wines from Lou and Louis Kapcsandy and their winemaker Denis Malbec. The 2010s continue to get better and better. Kapcsandy's 2011s are among the wines of the vintage, and will in some cases challenge the 2010s and 2012s. That is hardly a surprise, given the attention to detail I saw during the harvest. Readers can see the 2011 fruit being sorted and crushed in this short video. Lou Kapcsandy thinks his 2012s will be better than the 2010s because the wines are showing better today than the 2010s did at the same stage. I am not so sure. It is going to be close. Readers may also want to view this video shot in May 2013 covering the 2012s when they were still in separate lots. Lastly, the Kapcsandy team talks about 2013 here. Kapcsandy continues to make refinements to the range. The Estate Cuvee is back to being a true blend as it was in 2008 and before, rather than 100% Cabernet Sauvignon as it was in 2009 and 2010. The new Rapszodia, a Cabernet Franc/Merlot blend is stunning, and will challenge the better known wines in the lineup soon. Endre remains the entry-level offering, but production will go down, which I believe will raise the quality of the wine based on the 2011 and 2012.