2016 Rapszodia

This is a brilliant set of wines from Lou and Louis Kapcsándy. The 2016s are as remarkable as I had hoped they would be. Even so, the 2017s, from a far more challenging harvest, might be even more impressive for the daunting circumstances under which they were made. The only issue with these wines is their tiny production, which means very few people ever get to taste them. That point was made very clear to me recently at a tasting in London, where I served the 2010 Grand Vin, one of my all-time favorites here, to a group of very experienced collectors, none of whom had ever tasted a Kapcsándy wine. I was not at all surprised by their reaction, as 2010 reaffirmed its place as one of the most monumental wines of that great harvest.

Two thousand-fifteen is a vintage of transition at Kapcsándy. Denis Malbec passed away before the wines were bottled. Lou and Louis Kapcsándy finished these blends and subsequently brought on Tony Arcudi as their consultant. I found the 2015s less impressive from bottle than they were from barrel. It is impossible to say based on one tasting if that is attributable to the transition in winemaking, or if I simply caught the wines on a bad day. Regardless, a number of 2015s showed awkwardly, while the 2016s, which I tasted from barrel, were much more in line with the level of quality that is customary here.