2009 Roberta's Reserve

Kapcsandy's 2009s have developed beautifully over the last year. As great as those wines are, the 2010s are even better. The cold, late-ripening harvest produced stunning wines endowed with tons of energy and sheer power. The estate's 2011s are equally impressive.

I first tasted the 2011s this past spring when the component wines were still separate. I had an opportunity to sample multiple lots across various parcels and aged in barrels from different coopers. It was the kind of technical tasting I wish every Wine Advocate reader could experience at least once, because it is in these types of settings where the passion and attention to detail of an estate truly comes through loud and clear. There are also a few changes to the Kapcsandy lineup. Starting with 2011, the Estate Cuvée is no longer 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Lots that don't make it into the Estate Cuvée are considered for Endre. With the 2010 vintage, Kapcsandy is introducing a new Proprietary Blend. In all of my travels throughout the world I have met few producers who can match Lou Kapcsandy's passion and total dedication to excellence. Along with his son Louis and consulting winemaker Denis Malbec, Lou Kapcsandy continues to craft exceptional wines loaded with class and pedigree. Every wine in this lineup, from the newly expanded selection of rosés, to the flagship reds and the fortified wine is well worth your time. Readers who want to learn more about Kapcsandy may want to take a look at my videos of the 2011 and 2012 harvest posted on our site.

The key to the quality of the Kapcsandys' outstanding vineyard on the Yountville Crossroad (formerly the State Lane Vineyard, the source of many outstanding cabernets from Beringer over the years) may be the long hangtime between veraison and harvest. Particularly in recent cooler years, the tannins are able to ripen slowly and thoroughly before grape sugars go too high (most of the 2010s and 2009s are under 14% alcohol, according to Lou Kapcsandy). The soil is mostly gravel over clay, and cooling breezes from San Pablo Bay to the south consistently bring down temperatures in late afternoon. The vines are also planted along a north-south axis, which protects the grapes from the hottest afternoon sun. The result is more hang time, less dehydration of the grapes, and dense, full wines with strong minerality and floral lift. During my most recent tasting here, it crossed my mind that the Roberta's Reserve bottling has quickly risen to the top of the merlot heap in California. But don't expect a chocolatey, oaky confection; in its intensity, structure and mineral grip, it's more like Petrus.

Inspired by the great classic Napa Valley Cabernets of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Lou Kapcsándy set out to recapture that glory when he and his family purchased the State Lane Vineyard in Yountville in 2000. State Lane had previously been a source of fruit for Beringer's State Lane and Private Reserve Cabernet bottlings. The vineyard was destroyed by phylloxera in 1999 and replanted in 2001 by Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer. Kapcsándy is a family affair, with Lou's son Louis and wife Bobbi both deeply involved in the day to day running of the winery. Denis Malbec is the consulting oenologist.

Much as I dislike raving about wines that cost an arm and two legs, it''s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Kapcsandys'' Roberta''s Reserve has rapidly become one of the world''s greatest merlots not made on the Pomerol plateau. During the course of my annual visit to this estate on the east side of Yountville (the Kapcsandys replanted the famous old State Lane Vineyard a year after they purchased the property in 2000), the Roberta''s and the Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin stood out as some of the stars of both 2009 and 2008. These are classically dry and broad wines in a rather French style (Denis Malbec, who virtually grew up at Chateau Latour, has been consulting winemaker here since 2007). But although they really call for extended aging, they also gained dramatically in sweetness in just the time I had them in my glass. One of the keys to the very high quality here is a willingness to bottle only the very best material each vintage. According to Lou Kapcsandy Sr., 62% of total production in 2009 went into the estate''s Endre bottling.'