Over Succoth, we enjoyed a dinner by friends, and Benyo of Four Gates Winery was kind enough to bring over a partial vertical of Frere Robaire. The wine was first released in 2006, when it was a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet. It then went on a 4-year hiatus, when it was released again, but this time it was majority Cabernet Sauvignon from the Monte Bello Ridge vineyard, and fleshed out with a bit of Merlot. From then, it has been released in 2011, 2012, and will be released in the 2013 vintage as well. The 2006 is mostly Cabernet Franc, but the percentages change with the years, based on what best works together. The 2010 was mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2011 and the 2012 are mostly Merlot in makeup, with differing amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon. They all have 1% of Cabernet Franc. The wine gets its name from Benyamin Cantz’s brother – Robert.

We tasted them all, other than the original 2006, and what I can say is that they taste far different from when you first open them, in comparison to when they have been given time to really show their potential. Originally, we thought the best wine was the 2011, followed by the 2010, and then the 2012, with the 2013 being the least favorite of the four. Of course, this is all in comparison to each other. The wines have changed little from release, even the 2010. You can find my notes for the 2010 and 2011 here. The 2012 was reviewed earlier this year, and the 2013 is not yet released – and truly far too young to appreciate, so it makes sense that the wine has really not yet come together to see its true potential.

The Frere Robaire is a blend made to truly live up Aristotle’s axiom; “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In many ways, I find it reaches that lofty goal, because the sums are made up of wonderful parts, but the whole is another world. What I love about these wines are that they are new-world, but they have so many components that are more old-world than new-world.

The 2012 is a great example of this. Once the wine is given time to open and really show its inner sense, what comes out is an old-world soul, much akin to a 2005 Chateau Malartic. The wine shows its minerality, rich essence, and focus, but also richness from its dark fruit. Really impressive.

The wine notes can be found below – enjoy!

2010 Four Gates Frere Robaire – Score: A-
The wine gets its name from Benyamin Cantz’s brother – Robert, but the name does bring a smile to my mind when I think of the other meanings. The wine is a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. This wine is still too young to be enjoyed out of the bottle. If you must drink this wine at this point, it can use a good decanting for a few hours.
Once the wine is open, the nose shows a redolence of menthol, eucalyptus, mint, blackberry, ripe cherry, garrigue, with lovely spice, mushroom, hints of barnyard, green notes galore, and foliage.  The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich and layered with intense and epic menthol, showing lovely layers and complexity, it is lush and expressive, with rich extraction, lovely ripe black and red fruit, currant, raspberry, and great spice, cloves, and herb. The finish is long, green and spicy, with classic Four Gates acid balance, chocolate, leather, tar, roasted herb, and black fruit. Bravo! Best enjoyed 2017 – 2022

2011 Four Gates Frere Robaire – Score: A- to A
The wine gets its name from Benyamin Cantz’s brother – Robert, but the name does bring a smile to my mind when I think of the other meanings. The wine is a blend of 72% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Cabernet Franc. This wine is still too young to be enjoyed out of the bottle. If you must drink this wine at this point, it can use a good decanting for a few hours.
Once the wine is open, it shows a nose of red fruit, with a dollop of dark plum, with ripe raspberry, strawberry, rich spice,and green notes. This is sheer elegance in comparison to the 2010, with insane layers of ripe but very fruit, with red fruit the gives way to blackberry, dark cherry, mushroom, forest floor, nice herb, and Oriental spice. The finish is long and herbal with chocolate, leather, tar, followed by more mouth coating tannin, dill, with butterscotch lingering. Bravo!! Best enjoyed 2018 – 2024

2012 Four Gates Frere Robaire – Score: A- to A
The wine gets its name from Benyamin Cantz’s brother – Robert, but the name does bring a smile to my mind when I think of the other meanings. The wine is a blend of 66% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Cabernet Franc. This wine is still too young to be enjoyed out of the bottle. If you must drink this wine at this point, it can use a good decanting for a few hours.

Once the wine is open, it shows a nose green, with ripe red fruit, herb, garrigue, followed by tar, earth, rich loam, with nice spice and black fruit in the background. The mouth on this full bodied wine is sheer and utter elegance, layered and rich, with spice, mushroom, green notes, lightly extracted, showing beautiful control, with a focus that is perfectly balanced between fruit, mineral, and terroir, one that makes me think of French wines, Chateau Malartic coming to mind. The finish is long and elegant, with blackberry, mouth draping tannin, rich green foliage, tar, mushroom, and earth, giving way to chocolate, red and black fruit, showing elegance and focus with years left in the tank. Drink 2019 – 2026