Another Day Date

One of the great things these days, is the chance to have dates again with my Bride, though she may be getting tired of being with me, after the last almost two years.  She is probably happy, that we don’t have a smaller house.  She is still trying to get me healthy, though it is a losing battle.  After giving up cigars and all other bad habits like that, somehow, I gained forty pounds, the first twenty pounds fell off, rather easy, but this next forty is determined to stay with me.  We are trying to do 5K walks, but in the extreme heat we may only do a 3K walk, otherwise I might be writing these articles from a hospital setting, and they probably wouldn’t approve of my diet or my wines.

Periodically we break up our morning walk in the neighborhood, as there only so many times when we want to have to walk around sprinkler systems, or yapping dogs that by now should be used to seeing us, walk hand in hand all around our subdivision.  My Bride is excited, because she has this vinyl or plastic “Fit Bit” watch that is somehow in sync with her computer.  We break up our routine by going to other communities to walk around, and we can tie the walking with some window shopping, do people besides us, still do that?  Beyond window shopping, there is a chance of some actual shopping, maybe a frou-frou coffee and brunch.  We ended up at a restaurant called Toast and they were very busy, but the hostess suggested that we might get a seat near the bar, and we found two seats.  My Bride had the Nova Scotia Benny which was two poached eggs, smoked salmon, spinach, heirloom tomatoes, English muffins, dill Hollandaise and a Balsamic drizzle.  It also came with their highly touted Bacon-fried-rice which is Jasmine rice, bacon, avocado, pickled vegetables, crispy onion strings and spinach.  I had their Why So Blue? Pancakes which was a blueberry compote, lemon-honey-ricotta cheese, lemon zest and syrup with a side of Applewood bacon.  We split each other’s dish, though to be truthful, we could have split either of the orders and it would not have negated our walk. 

A brunch would not be a brunch without a Mimosa, and their recommendation was Mimosa for the Table, and they offered five different bottles of bubbly, two I thought were sacrilege to be used for a Mimosa and we ended up with a bottle of Avissi Prosecco DOC NV and a small carafe of orange juice and we mixed our own, which was perfect, just the way we like it.  Avissi Prosecco is of course from the Veneto region, otherwise the grapes would be called Glera, because only the Glera grapes from Veneto may be called Prosecco.  The wine is made using the Charmat Method, which is the way most of the wines from the region are made, as it is a more affordable way and to be mixed with orange juice, it is perfect, in my book.  The wine has a floral nose of honeysuckle and gardenias, a nice crisp tasting extra dry wine with a finish of ripe pear.  It was tasty, even without adding the orange juice.  It is owned by the Trinchero Family Estates and if we weren’t having brunch, it would be an enjoyable wine with almost any dish that we might have.   

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A Toscana and a Greve

I had a couple more Italian wines while I was at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source.  Both of the wines were based on the Sangiovese grape, the workhorse of Chianti and Tuscany.  It is always fun to taste similar wines next to each other, even when they carry different designations, but the rules of some regions are quite strict, to maintain the image and quality of the land.

Piaggia Vannucci Pietranera Toscana IGT 2020 is a very interesting wine with probably the most famous entry level designation, which when the DOC laws were codified, many of the winemakers felt that the rules were too stringent and they rebelled.  The Piaggia estate is in the commune of Poggio, in the province of Prato.  The winery was purchased and developed by Mauro Vannucci in the mid Seventies.  Part of the vineyard was in the Carmignano DOCG designation, and he felt that the sun, along with the dry clay soil would produce a great wine.  His first wine was produced in 1991, and his daughter Silvia is now the current owner of the winery. The estate is now about twenty-five hectares, of which fifteen are vineyards. The Pietranera label is their pure Sangiovese wine that they are producing for a popular price wine that offers the terroir of their land.  The grapes are pressed and the juice and skins are placed in small vats for fermentation with natural yeasts, with constant racking of the wines for about twenty days.  The malolactic fermentation goes for about three months after the juice has been transferred to small wooden barrels, and then is stored in bottle for an additional six months before release.  The wine was a pretty ruby red with a classic nose of cherries and spices.  The palate appreciated the cherry jam flavor, with a touch of cocoa and spices, balance tannins and a moderate count finish with some terroir.  I think this wine will be best enjoyed while it is young.

Azienda Agricola Lanciola Le Masse Di Greve Chianti Classico 2016 is just a few kilometers outside of Florence and the land as a vineyard is recorded back to 1587 to the Ricci family, and today it is owned by the Guarnieri family.  The estate is about eighty hectares of forty for vineyards and forty for olive groves.  The vineyard is basically planted with Sangiovese, but they grow a small amount of Canaiolo, Colorina, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  Fourteen hectares of the estate is in the designation of Greve, which is in the heart of Chianti Classico.  The terrain is hilly with southwestern exposure on a bed of shale.  The wine is ninety-five percent Sangiovese and five percent Canaiolo.  Initial fermentation is done in Stainless Steel tanks and the secondary fermentation in two-year old oak barriques and twenty-five quintal barrels for twenty-four months, followed by six months resting in bottles.   The wine is a pretty ruby shade with a nose of sweet cherries and vanilla.  A medium bodied wine offering the red fruit, vanilla and some spices, with balanced tannins and a medium count finish of fruit and terroir.  This is a wine that I think would be best enjoyed in its youth, or perhaps just a few years in the cellar.  

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Altesino Montosoli

Another case of wine memories of days of yore, while I was tasting wines at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source.  I guess in the early days when I was self-educating myself about wines France and Italy were the two major points of interest for me, probably for the majority of wine drinkers back then, with Germany and Spain also in the running.  I had finished high school and college before the 1976 wine tasting that changed the world.  Growing up, in my old neighborhood, the odds of having a wine was low, but if we did, the wine was Italian.  As a student, most of the Italian wines were much more affordable, and I am not even talking about the fiascha bottles of Chianti, those curious bottles of wine that had a rattan/wicker wrapping around the bottle that eventually became a candle holder.  The basketry work, probably cost more than the wine that was in the bottle.

I had a chance to try Societa Agricola Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli DOCG 2016, and most of the time the wine is usually referred to as Altesino.  The Palazzo Altesi which still overlooks the estate was built in the Fifteenth Century.  Altesino has been owned by the Gnudi Angelini family since 2002.  In 1975, they were one of the first to introduce a Cru wine, a single vineyard wine, in Brunello di Montalcino, as well as in Italy.  Altesino has about fifty hectares of basically all Sangiovese, the grape of the region, and referred locally as Sangiovese di Montalcino.  The Montosoli wine spends at least two years in casks, plus three to four months in French barriques, for a total of four years of aging, and then another four months in the bottle before release.  This wine traditionally will age for twenty to thirty years and this is the latest release of this Cru wine.  The wine had a beautiful ruby color with a floral nose with blackberry and balsamic notes.  The wine offered rich dark fruit, some pepper with rich tannins and a wonderful long count finish, that just called for another taste. 

I mentioned memories, because I have written about the Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG since their 1996 vintage, and if I had earlier, which may be possible, the label was lost.  Brunello di Montalcino was the first region to get the DOCG designation. Most of my memories of this wine has been in restaurants.  The basic Brunello di Montalcino is aged for four years, with a minimum of two years in large Slavonian Oak casks.  The wine is a beautiful garnet color and an enticing nose of cherries, red fruit, and lavender.  A big chewy wine, is the best way for me to describe it, and it will hold its own for a good twenty years.  A really solid wine, but over the years, I have learned to expect the best from Altesino.    

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Alto Moncayo Veraton

Another trip down Memory Lane, courtesy of my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source.  It really is interesting to see how, if any, vintages can affect a wine.  I was in retail, my entire career, so I can understand how there is certain merchandise that one has to carry for the clientele, especially if you originally created the market for your shop.  It is even better, if the product you have to carry is excellent.  I applaud the shop for not stocking their shelves with the popular brands that are in all the gas stations, drug stores, grocery stores and big box stores.  Their customers shop at the store for wines worth a drive for, and they know that they aren’t being price gouged either.

Bodegas Alto Moncayo Veraton Garnacha 2018 and the last bottle that I tried was the 2015. Bodegas Alto Moncayo was founded in 2002 in Campo de Borja DO in the Aragon region of Northern Spain; and Campo de Borja DO was granted in 1980.  While it was recognized fairly recently the area was recognized for wines back in the times of the Roman Empire.  The winery is a partnership of the Andalucía winemaker Jorge Ordenez, the Australian winemaker Chris Ringland and Bodegas Borsao one of the largest and most influential producers in Campo de Borja.  The winery makes three wines and I had a chance to try two of the wines (on that past visit), and all three are made from the Garnacha varietal, which is a grape that I enjoyed back in my youth, but I had no idea that I liked the Grenache grape, but I certainly loved Rhone wines, especially when I could get some Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  While Tempranillo is the King in Spain, that honor in Campo de Borja goes to Garnacha.  The vines just produce a big wine in this mineral-laden area that is basically rain-free.

Bodegas Alto Moncayo Veraton Garnacha 2018 is a fine example of wine from Campo de Borja DO.  The town of Borja has a long history going back to 5 BC and thought to be from tribes of mixed Iberian and Celtic stock.  The Borgia family, that is famous in Italy, during the Renaissance, and produced two Popes, were of Borjan origin.  The winemaking goes back to the time of the Romans and the Cistercian monks.  Rain is scarce in the region, the low regions are of brown limestone, while the middle elevation offers soil of deposited stones and iron-rich clay, while the highest elevation in the Moncayo foothills offer stones, iron and lime.  I had to show two different views of the label, because the pretty part, doesn’t identify the wine, unless you already know the artwork.  This wine is made from vines that are thirty to fifty years of age.  The wine is barrel aged for sixteen months.  Even the second vintage of this wine that I had was delicious with a nose of dark fruits, and those fruits follow through on the palate along with a touch of chocolate, nice tannins, balanced with a medium count finish with terroir.  Whenever I think, and especially when I taste Grenache (Garnacha) I always think of Thanksgiving and a roasted turkey, and some mental images are always there.    

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An Encore of Tré Son Zinfandel

Imagine if you will, being in a wine shop and having a glass of wine being poured for you.  Yes, I was at my local wine shop and club, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia.  These two men walk in, and all of a sudden, I heard a request that a certain bottle of wine should be poured for me.  By now, you realize that I do not shy away from such behavior.  Even a quick look at the label, and I knew that I had had the wine before, more déjà vu, and I no longer have my animosity towards Zinfandel.

They poured me a glass of Tré Son 4 Hearts Vineyard Zinfandel 2018 from Paso Robles, California and I was told that this was a Fine Wine Source Exclusive.  Who am I to pass up an offer like this?  I am slowly getting an appreciation for the Zinfandel grape, as for years I had shunned it, from the jam-bombs I remember having as a kid from the homemade “Dago Red” wines that were abundant in my neighborhood and we often received jugs of it as gifts.  All those years back as a child when I was allowed a glass of wine, my sensory functions would go tilt, because I could taste the jammy fruit and egg-whites, which the old men used to use to fine the wines.  As a kid, I could never eat the whites of the eggs by themselves, and that taste had turned me off.  Some fifty years later I guess that I have matured a bit, even though I still don’t eat fried eggs, I have learned to enjoy a good glass of Zinfandel.  This wine that I was tasting was not super jammy, even with the deep color and a truly delightful nose, but there was a charming earthy terroir that really won me over.

The label was consistent to the Tré Son 4 Hearts Vineyard Zinfandel Paso Robles 2015.  As is my nature, when I am doing additional research, because I want my facts to be right, I Googled the wine and my original article was the second entry cited, you know, that I just felt wonderful.  It turns out that one of the two men that walked in was the owner of 4 Hearts Vineyard.  My wine shop helped designed the label and helped secure the proper paperwork in the Byzantine labyrinth that is how Michigan is able to sell wines.  The vineyard was bought in 2004, which at the time was a walnut ranch, and the first fifteen acres of thirty-seven were planted in 2007, of which ten acres were Zinfandel.  The vineyard is owned by a gentleman that hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan who now divides his time between Michigan with his current business and residing in Paso Robles which will eventually be his retirement home and business.  The 4 Hearts refer to his wife and his three daughters, so that negated the three sons thought.  When one considers the tender young age of this vineyard, it is well respected by some other wineries that use their fruit.  Some of the wineries listed by the vineyard include some of their earliest purchasers like Dunning Vineyard, Saxum Vineyards and Venteux Vineyards and many others.  So, all I can say is, if you find this bottle of wine, give it a go, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

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Celani Cabernet Sauvignon

People ask me constantly, if I ever get tired of tasting wines or if it gets boring.  When I am doing my often times, impromptu tastings at The Fine Wine Source, it never gets boring.  The comradery that is encountered, makes the moment special, no matter what they are offering to pour, as they know that eventually I will write about the wines that I encounter.  Sometimes, the wines will be repeated, which is fine, as I get to rethink about the wine, and sometimes I can observe changes as it ages.  Most of the time, if it is a repeat, it is another vintage of a wine that I had at an earlier time, and that is also very interesting as one can see, if a vintage can alter the wine.  Though the old adage that a quality winemaker can work around even a bad vintage.  Of course, at my local wine shop, I never worry, because they taste every wine, before they stock the shelves with an order.

 I lead in with this introduction, because for years I had heard Tom Celani and all the philanthropic work he has done in the Detroit area, long before he had a winery.  Tom Celani is lauded in the Detroit area for his largesse for charitable organizations that he helps in a grand manner.  He and his father ended up creating one of the largest Miller distribution companies in the United States along with other beers and wines.  Tom Celani fell in love with wines, first as a drinker and a collector and finally acquiring a Tuscan-style estate with seventeen acres of grapes and one-hundred-twenty olive trees in the foot hills of the Vaca Mountain range in Napa Valley.  As the proprietor of the Celani Family Vineyards he has chosen to bottle wine without costs becoming a consideration, to him wine is about quality and not quantity.  In fact, he was joking that he is not sure if the winery, will ever truly show a profit, because of his concern about getting the best wine each and every time.  I have had the good fortune to have gone to a couple of Celani Family Vineyards tasting events, including once where I actually got to meet him.  Needless to say, we have an excellent representation of his wines over several different vintages resting in our cellar. 

The Celani Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2018 had just arrived.  I have had the good fortune to have enjoyed the 2013 and the 2017 vintages of this wine.  This estate is a small family-owned winery that has seventeen acres of vineyards planted on a twenty-acre lot.  The winery was originally planted with Merlot and Chardonnay.  This wine is pure Cabernet Sauvignon and had been aged for twenty months with ninety percent new French Oak barrels and it was bottled without fining or filtration. The nose on this fresh vintage was full of black cherries and blackberries and violets.  It offered the fruit on the palate along with notes of cardamom and dark chocolate.  The tannins were rich and seductive and there was a nice long finish of terroir, that complemented the already formed complexity, that will just get bigger in the next ten years.   

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“Best Wine in the World”

“Best Wine in the World” was the banner stretched across the home page for Marques de Murrieta.  Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Rioja DOCa 2010 won the top position in the Wine Spectator “The Top 100 – The Most Exciting Wines of 2010” from their issue dated Dec. 31, 2020 – Jan. 15, 2021.  Now let me set the stage, as I was in my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan and I was asked if I wanted to taste some wines.  So far, a normal occurrence and then they poured me this wine and the day was no longer ordinary, but extraordinary. 

Castillo Ygay is an icon in Spain, a living legend for three centuries in Rioja and an historic label even among the Rioja Grandes Reservas.  There are three sub-regions of Rioja and Rioja Alta tends to be the region that is often named, and it refers to the elevation of this region compared to the other two sub-regions.  The winery was founded in 1852 by Luciano de Murrieta and since 1983 it has been owned by the Cebrian-Sagarriga family.  When the winery was being built it was found to be part of Rioja Baja (lower elevation), but it makes the region sound inferior and Rioja Baja is now Rioja Oriental; they had enough clout to have the boundary moved, so that the winery was in Rioja Alta and today it is in its own enclave of La Rioja Alta.

Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Rioja DOCa 2010 and this wine is not made every vintage and the fruit comes the single vineyard La Plana, planted in 1950 (forty hectares) and is on a plateau which is the highest point of the Finca Ygay vineyard on the estate.  This wine is a blend of eighty-five percent Tempranillo and fifteen percent Mazuelo.  After manual harvesting, destemming and gentle crushing the wine spends eleven days fermenting in Stainless Steel with constant attention during this period.  The wine is then aged for twenty-four months in a mix of American and French Oak, then followed up with thirty-six months of aging in the bottle before release.  Seventy-five-hundred cases were produced and six-hundred-eighty cases were imported.  The nose tantalized me with strawberry and raspberry, cloves and nutmeg, and some traces of tea, leather and graphite.  This doesn’t sound like me, but we were discussing this wine in the shop.  The wine perhaps is the best example I may ever have of a classic Rioja as it had layers of dried cherry, orange peel and vanilla, but especially the velvety tannins, a totally balance wine and one of the longest finishes I have enjoyed.  A year ago, I had the chance to enjoy the 2009 vintage and it was wonderful, but this wine took everyone’s breath away.  I imagine that another ten years in the cellar would be awe inspiring and could compete with the dingus in The Maltese Falcon, “the, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.”

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August 2021 Club Selections

One of my favorite outings is going to The Fine Wine Source, my local wine shop and getting the two wine bottles that are the monthly wine club choices.  That is a great perk for the club members and for the shop.  For the club members, besides getting two wines that one may not just grab off the shelf, one also gets case discount on any purchase, even if just picking up a bottle for the moment. This was also a blessing for the shop, because they were able to survive during the “fifteen-day lockdown” and stay in business, because they were not deemed a “necessary” business.  For eighteen months they did business by phone and by delivery.  Proving that customer service is the proper way to do business.

The first selection for the month represents “The Old World.” Chateau La Gabarre Rosé Bordeaux 2020 and is in the commune of Galgon on the Right Bank, north west of Lalande-de-Pomerol. The estate has been in the Gabard family since the 1800’s and the present stewards are Stephane and Paola Gabard.  They use sustainable farming practices and the soil is gravel, clay and sand and the average age of the vines are between fifteen and thirty-five years.  Besides this wine they also produce a Bordeaux Blanc, and a Bordeaux Supereiur; and all three wine types are done both as Chateau La Gabarre and their label “La Gabarre.”   The wine is a blend of forty-five percent Merlot, thirty percent Cabernet Franc and twenty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  They use a direct press method and then age the wine for nine months in Stainless Steel to keep the fruit and crispness and they produced eight-hundred-fifty cases of this wine.  The notes for this wine offer a nose of raspberry and strawberry, with a rich mid palate intensity and a long finish.  It sounds perfect for first courses or barbecues.

As always, the second wine selection represents The New World.  Luke Wines “The Companion” Red Blend Wahluke Slope AVA 2018 and Wahluke Slope AVA is a subset of the much larger Columbia Valley in Washington State.  “Luke” takes its name from the word “Wahluke” and is the native American term for “watering place” and the Wanapum are the native settlers of the land.  Most of the wines from the Wahluke Slope AVA are not single vineyard wines, and this wine is no exception as the fruit was harvested from the following vineyards; Weinbau, Wahluke Slope, King Fuji, Newhouse, Ravenscliff, Rosebud, Northridge, Clifton, Stone Tree and Clifton Hill.  The wine is a blend of sixty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty percent Merlot and twenty percent Syrah.  It was aged using a mix of French and American Oak and twenty-eight-hundred cases were produced.  The tasting notes suggest the opulence of a Bordeaux blend with the special synergy that a dose of Syrah brings with it.  Dark fruits with notes of spices, coffee and chocolate, silky tannins with good acidity and a long lingering finish are from the technical notes.  I am sure that it will find the right meal.   

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Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino

I was tasting a wonderful wine recently at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source and they asked me if I had ever had it, I said that I have had wine from the region, but I didn’t think that I had tasted the wine.  Of course, the winery kept gnawing at me, a sense of déjà vu.  After writing for almost ten years, and imbibing for fifty, I don’t always remember every wine immediately, I should of, at least checked my blog. 

I was tasting Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015 and it is pure Sangiovese or locally known as Brunello.  A lawyer, Gabriele Mastrojanni created the winery in 1975 when he bought the San Pio and Loreto estates and planted vines where it was meadows and woods. There are ninety-six hectares of land, with thirty-three hectares planted in vines, but only seventeen hectares qualify to be Brunello di Montalcino.  Their cellar is built partially into a hillside and it has cement tanks and barrels for long term storage.  Since 2008, they are part of Gruppo Illy, the coffee people, and Francesco Illy has been an owner-winemaker at a neighboring estate since 1997; he has kept the same original winemaking team at Mastrojanni since the purchase. This wine spent thirty-six months in oak and an additional six months in the bottle, before distribution.  The wine is a pretty ruby-garnet red with a nose of dark fruit and spices, a beautiful chewy wine with tannins that need to be mellowed out with some additional aging and a nice long finish. 

I found my article about my déjà vu moment, that I wrote about back in 2013.  Just before our guests arrived, I went to choose a wine for the dinner.  I found a Brunello di Montalcino ‘Loreto’ 1991 by Mastrojanni and I also looked at a second wine, just in case, that I had kept this wine too long.   I removed the foil capsule and everything looked good, and then I used my best corkscrew, which always seems to get a good bite on the cork.  The cork once removed was sound and had no bad odors, so far so good.   I poured just a tasting amount in my wine glass, on a side table and I was amazed at how rich the color still was, as there was no lightening or brownish tinge to be seen.  Since this wine is made from the Brunello (Little Brown One) grape it has since been proven to actually be the Sangiovese varietal that is famous for the Tuscan region where this wine hails from.  When I took the first taste, I was amazed at how smooth this wine had matured; the tannins had mellowed out so gracefully that I even had to share that first taste with my Bride.  I was going to decant the wine, but our company arrived, so I just let it breathe on the side table, away from all the other activities.  When it came to pour the wine along with our entrée, it was just awesome and I am sorry that I did not have another bottle of this wine left in my cellar.  I am not sure that our guests were as amazed by the wine as my Bride and I were, but I am still admiring its quality mentally.

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Realm Cellars “The Bard”

There are times when I stop at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source and I find myself elevated above my food grade.  I am not usually in the pay grade to encounter cult wines, and yes, I have stumbled upon a few in my day, and for which I am greatly thankful for.  Over the years, it seems that there has become more and more of these unicorn wines appearing.  When I was a wee lad in my teens, learning about wines there were some wines that were awe-inspiring, but they had earned that status over decades of fine craftsmanship.  Today, the craftmanship is still honored, but the time frame for some wineries have quickened immensely.

Ream Cellars is a Napa Valley wine that is located in the Stags Leap District and known for their Cabernet Sauvignon based wines.  The majority of their wines are sold to their members that are on their mailing list and to a collection of fine restaurants. It started off as a “virtual winery” in 2002 by Juan Mercado and Wendell Laidley with five tons of fruit from both Beckstoffer To Kaon and Dominus Estate’s Napanook vineyards.  Later on, they were able to acquire fruit from Beckstoffer Dr Crane and Farella.  The wines were originally made at Sherwin Family Vineyards and later at Chateau Boswell.  The current majority owner is Scott Becker and took over in 2011, saving the winery from bankruptcy.  Realm now owns its own vineyard after acquiring Hartwell Estate Vineyards in Stags Leap District in 2015.  Realm Cellars uses a Gothic font of a capital R and every bottle has this quote from Shakespeare’s Richard II “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm…”

Realm Cellars “The Bard” Napa Valley 2018 is their highest production wine with fruit harvested from vineyards across the valley.  The production of their wines is evenly split between proprietary blends and single vineyard wines.  “The Bard” is their flagship of their proprietary blends.  The fruit has been harvested from diverse and famed vineyards like Beckstoffer To Kalon, Beckstoffer Bourn, Blair, Houyi, Larkmead, Realm SLD Estate, Farella, Orchard and Bettinelli Upper Range.  The blending of the wine changes each year, but the constant seems to be that it is over seventy percent Cabernet Sauvignon and then Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  The first appearance of “The Bard” was 2003, and because it is a proprietary blend, there is basically no technical notes about production, beyond the fact that they produce fifty-thousand bottles of this wine.  My only blessing is that over fifty years, I have had the honor of enjoying some spectacular wines and there is a place in a back cubby-hole in my brain that appears periodically to let me compare “apples to apples.” It was during the tasting of this wine, that I wished that I was more akin to some of the other writers and reviewers who have a lexicon of descriptors to bandy about, but it was delicious with notes of red and black fruit and spices, a complex wine with richness, even in its youth and in ten years and beyond, it will be a wine to tell your great-grandchildren about.    

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