Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2018 Roberta's Reserve is all elegance, all class. But it is also more reserved than it was a year ago. That's probably a very good thing for its long-term prospects, though. In 2018, the Roberta's is especially fine and understated. I can't wait to taste it in another few years' time. That 2018 retrospective will be here before you know it!
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Jeb Dunnuck
The Merlot-dominated 2018 Roberta's Reserve (there is 2% Cabernet Franc) is also deeply hued and has a great nose of smoked black and blue fruits, gravelly earth, chocolate, and tobacco. As with all the wines here, it has incredible purity of fruit, the tannins are just about perfect, and it’s flawlessly balanced. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Roberta's Reserve State Lane Vineyard was aged in French oak, 75% new. Deep garnet-purple in color, it comes bounding out of the glass with energetic notes of crushed red and black plums, boysenberries and Morello cherries plus hints of blueberry pie, camphor, dark chocolate, star anise and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid foundation of ripe, rounded tannins and bold freshness supporting the generous, crunchy black and red fruit, finishing long and lifted.
Rating: 96+
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.