2005 Kapcsandy Family Winery Roberto's Reserve State Lane Vineyard

A Proprietary Blend Dry Red Table Wine from Napa, North Coast, CA USA

Review by Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate, # 174 (December 2007)
Rating: 95
Drink 2010-2032
Cost $140

A glorious effort, the 2005 Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard (91% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc) gets my nod as one of the finest Merlot-based wines being made in Napa. A Right Bank-styled offering (think Pomerol), it boasts huge aromas of chocolate, mocha, sweet black cherries, and black currants. Dense, opulent, full-bodied, and fleshy with extravagant depth and richness that hides some rather serious tannins, this stunning red can be approached now, but it should be at its best in 3-4 years, and will keep for 20-25.

P.S. If you are a buyer of the Kapcsandy wines, don't miss their fabulous 2006 Rose. They made 274 cases, which are being sold only at the winery. It is one of the finest roses I have tasted over the last several years. What a great success story Kapcsandy Family Winery is. I first met Lou Kapcsandy when he was the owner of a construction company in Seattle. A Hungarian immigrant (he fled the country during the 1956 revolution), he gave up his business to follow the grapevine - so to speak - with his son, Louis, and wife Bobbi. The family moved to Napa, purchased Beringer's old State Lane Vineyard (often a component part of that winery's Private Reserve bottling), completely replanted it, and brought in well-known Bordelais Denis Malbec to work with California Rob Lawson to craft undeniable Bordeaux-styled blends of elegance and longevity. The rate at which they have achieved success is shocking. From their tightly spaced vineyard (2,700 vines per acre), new state-of-the-art winery, and Draconian selection process, they are producing three outstanding cuvees. Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer first gave them advice on planting the vineyard, but they moved on, and the vineyard now seems to be producing fruit at a level of quality never before seen from this site on the Yountville Crossroad.

2006 Kapcsandy Family Winery Roberto's Reserve State Lane Vineyard

A Proprietary Blend Dry Red Table Wine from Napa, North Coast, CA USA

Review by Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate, # 174 (December 2007)
Rating: 92-94

The 2006 Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard is a blend of 94% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. There are only 250 cases of this cuvee, which exhibits chocolate, espresso roast, licorice, roasted herb, black currant, mocha, and wild mountain berry fruit notes. Vibrant acidity, medium to full body, and good freshness are surprising for a Napa-based wine, but the winemaking team is undoubtedly seeking freshness and vibrancy. This 2006 should drink well for 12-15 years. There are 560 cases of the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon State Lane vineyard, a combination of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. Its intense fragrance of charcoal, black currants, pain grille, and expresso is followed by a deep, full-bodied ripe, fleshy wine with considerable finesse and elegance in the finish. This beauty should drink superbly for two decades or more. It appears to be the strongest of these three 2006s, a vintage that produced somewhat atypical light, more Bordeaux-styled, higher acid wines than the 2005s at Kapcsandy.

Review by Robert Parker
- The Wine Advocate