The 2021 Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard is 100% Merlot planted in 2002, aged in 80% new French oak. Featuring scents of wood spice, black cherries, cassia bark and clove, it's medium to full-bodied and creamy textured, plush and rich, with a velvety texture on the long finish. Like the other 2021 barrel samples I tried here, I couldn't help thinking this wine had more than it was showing.

The 2010 Roberta’s Reserve comes across as cool and understated. Layers of rich dark fruit emerge over time, but the 2010 remains compact and unyielding, which is not at all out of character. My impression is that the wine will flesh out over the next year or two, but time will ultimately tell. Today the 2010 is a bit elusive yet beguiling. The 2010 is 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that spent 20 months in 100% new French oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2030. (Not yet released)Inspired by the great classic Napa Valley Cabernets of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Lou Kapcsandy 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. Kapcsandy 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.Tel. (707) 948-3100

The 2009 Roberta’s Reserve shows quite a bit more intensity, length and focus than the 2008 I tasted alongside it. Dark red fruit, flowers, licorice and new leather are some of the notes that take shape in the glass. The 2009 boasts incredible depth and centeredness from start to finish. There is a crystalline purity and richness in the 2009 that is hugely appealing. The 2009 is 96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc that spent 20 months in French oak, 80% new. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. (Not yet released)Inspired by the great classic Napa Valley Cabernets of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Lou Kapcsandy 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. Kapcsandy 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.Tel. (707) 948-3100

The 2008 Roberta’s Reserve State Lane Vineyard (96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc) is virtually perfect. This offering is just as strong as the 2007, but slightly more forward and irresistible than the backward 2007. It boasts a dense inky/purple color as well as an extraordinary nose of blackberry liqueur intermixed with cocoa, forest floor, graphite and subtle hints of smoke as well as camphor. The wine reveals fresh acids, laser-like precision and an extraordinary plump, fleshy mouthfeel. Already approachable, it should evolve for 20-25+ years. As I have written many times over the last several years, the Kapcsandy estate, which is essentially the old Beringer State Lane Vineyard in Yountville resurrected under the perfectionist philosophy of Lou Kapcsandy, his son, Louis, and wife, Bobbi, is about as good a news story as one can find in Napa Valley. The vineyard, planted with very tight spacing and a north/south exposition by Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer, is impressive in its own right. Yet what the Kapcsandys have done with the fruit from that vineyard with assistance from their consultant, the Pauillac-born Denis Malbec, is nothing short of remarkable. Moreover, they have done it in less than a decade, which proves that fortunes can be made quickly, provided there are three ingredients – incredibly hard work, lots of talent, and a super terroir. These can indeed propel an estate to the stratosphere in less than a decade. The basic second wine of lots culled out from their three top cuvees is called Endre. This is a very good effort as the two most recent vintages suggest. There are three cuvees made from Kapcsandy’s State Lane Vineyard. The Estate Cuvee is generally composed of equal proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blended with tiny amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The Roberta’s Reserve, which is named after Lou Kapcsandy’s wife, Bobbi, is their Pomerol-styled Merlot-based wine that usually contains at least 90% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard is a northern Medoc-styled offering usually containing 85% or more Cabernet Sauvignon blended with tiny portions of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This estate has duplicated their extraordinary success with the 2007s with very great 2008s. The 2009s from the Kapcsandy’s 15.5-acre State Lane Vineyard are the result of a slightly cooler, larger yielding year.For readers on the mailing list and visitors to the winery, there are several other wines produced. The estate makes a very delicious, dry, deep colored rose from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and the 2009 Rose is another noteworthy example. It possesses much more flavor and body than most roses. Kapcsandy also produces a port-styled wine called Vino del Sol. Slightly lower in alcohol than most ports (17.6-18.1%), to date they have made a 2007, 2008 and 2009. They’re good efforts, but hardly at the exhilarating level of quality of their dry estate wines made from Bordeaux varietals.Tel. (707) 948-3100; Fax (707) 948-3106