Vineyard & Winemaking

One Vineyard, Four Flagship Wines

We’ve always been inspired by French wines and our vineyard management and winemaking are heavily influenced by Bordeaux-style practices that produce lower-alcohol wines. Yet we never lose sight of the fact that our grapes are grown on the floor of the world-renowned Napa Valley. Kapcsándy wines reveal that exceptional sense of place.

Lou and Louis Jr. are intimately involved in all decisions – from vineyard to winemaking to blending trials and bottling – and our wines are 100 percent estate-produced. They partner with Kapcsándy’s winemaking consultant, Anthony Arcudi, who has been a longtime assistant to renowned winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett. 

In our fermentation room and barrel-aging cellars, we’re proud to employ one of the most hygienic operations in the wine industry. We use a minimum of chemicals and are fanatical about hygiene and the removal of any bacterial agents, and our wines are a testament to this dedication. Our entire portfolio of wines is estate-grown and bottled at the winery, and all carry the vineyard designation of State Lane Vineyard. Yet each of our wines is distinctly unique – it’s hard to imagine that they’re all grown in the same contiguous vineyard.

Natural and Sustainable

We’re proud to use sustainable practices in both our vineyards and our winery. Nesting boxes, perch poles, and songbird houses attract birds of prey and other species – a natural form of pest control. We add compost to our soils to improve water circulation, and natural fertilizers to supply beneficial bacteria, photo nutrients, and trace elements. Cover crops planted between rows add nutrients, control vine growth, attract beneficial insects and prevent erosion. In addition, our winery and residence are 100 percent solar-powered and the excess electricity we produce is returned back to the electrical grid.

Aerial View of State Lane Vineyard

Soul and Spirit

It’s become a cliché, but we fundamentally agree that great wines are made in the vineyard. That’s why, upon taking ownership of the historic State Lane Vineyard, we conducted extensive soil and microclimate tests. We embarked upon a complete replant of the site to 15 specific blocks, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. And we engaged NASA to provide satellite imagery of our new vineyard to determine the best row direction for re-planting. The magnetic North-South direction has proven to be ideal for uniform ripening, producing a perfect balance between sugars and acidity of the grapes at harvest.

The vineyard is planted four to five times more densely than is typical for Napa Valley – at 2,600 vines per acre, it emulates the “First Growths” of Bordeaux. With this higher-density spacing, the vines produce smaller berries with higher skin-to-juice ratios and more intense flavors and aromas. This spacing also induces natural stressing of the vines without artificial human interventions, such as limiting irrigation or withholding critical nutrients.

From the moment we purchased the property, we’ve dedicated ourselves to maximizing the soil, the soul, the spirit, and the expression of this remarkable vineyard in every single bottle of Kapcsándy wines.