Hi everybody, thanks for the interest and all the questions. I think I’ll break up my comments into 3 parts over the next few days to keep myself more organized and efficient:
- First, I’ll share some thoughts on the vintage and each wine in this post, as well as answer some of your questions above.
- Second post, I’ll share thoughts on pricing for the wines – both general comments and specific to wines in this release.
- Third post, I’ll add comments on allocations – how they work, what you can expect, how we are evolving, etc.
Plenty of others have written more eloquently (Antonio, Lisa, Roy, etc) about the 2018 vintage so I won’t belabor the point. There’s also a good thread floating around here somewhere about 2018 vs 2019 in Napa Valley. Both vintages will be strong so as consumers we have a lot to look forward to. My impression of our 2018’s right now is that they are showing more nuance and more separation between themselves. Plenty of richness like always but maybe something more this year. Perhaps more typicity…truer to the site. To Kalon and Dr. Crane are both rich, dense wines but you won’t mistake one for the other. Farella distinguishes itself with more Coombsville character than in some years like 2015 or 2016. There could be a variety of reasons for this and we can debate that later if you want. For now, here are the wines being released:
- Houyi. Once again 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from this Pritchard Hill vineyard. I always love the perfumed character of this wine. When I think about the neighborhood for this vineyard, I’m energized by the challenge and the opportunity to stand along side some of the greats.
-Farella Estate. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon although future iterations will include Merlot. First year where we took over farming the vineyard as part of a long-term partnership with the Farella family. Back in the lineup after we missed the 2017 vintage because of the fires.
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Beckstoffer Bourn. Formerly known as Kata, this wine is 90% Cab Sauv and 10% Petite Sirah. The progression in this wine over last several years was to dial back slightly on the PS in the blend to bring more harmony. First vintage under Realm but Benoit’s steady hand and palate means you can expect consistency compared to prior Kata vintages. We are excited about the partnership with David Beckstoffer and we now have three key Beckstoffer vineyards in the portfolio.
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Beckstoffer Dr. Crane. 100% Cab Sauv. West St. Helena vineyard next to a rock quarry. This wine is always special and I just wish we could source more fruit from here.
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Beckstoffer To Kalon. This wine is where I notice the nuance and precision of 2018 the most right now. Still has a typical profile of opulent red and black fruits but there seems to be more freshness in this wine at this young stage than I remember with previous vintages. We added some new rows in 2018 which brings more diversity to the final blend and enables us to produce more – very exciting!
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Beckstoffer To Kalon Cab Franc. 100% Cab Franc. First time it’s been 100% Cab Franc, normally we have a little Cab Sauv. This wine has the density and richness that is so typical of the vineyard but also the freshness and herbal undertones that are typical of the varietal. Bottled in magnums only.
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Fidelio. This will be the only wine we release from the 2020 vintage. 100% Sauvignon blanc with a blend of Farella and Gamble fruit. Volume is down slightly.
A minute on the Farella Vineyard. It’s humbling for us to be in the position to help steward the future of this place. Frank Farella bought the property in 1977 and planted Cabernet despite everyone recommending against it at the time. Frank is now 91 and still golfing when he can. He’s a legend. Frank’s son Tom took over winegrowing duties in the 80’s and he’s done an incredible job preserving the unique character of the place. I talk a lot about Realm standing on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before us. We have a legacy to preserve from Frank and Tom…and yet we know we must forge a path for the future. We’ve been slowly making adjustments to the farming in our rows of the vineyard, for example, but still doing things Tom’s way in his rows. A few others are taking fruit from the Farella Vineyard such as Massimo DiCostanzo and Jason Moore from Modus Operandi. That creates a fascinating opportunity to taste different wines from the same vineyard! For my palate, I find Massimo’s wines to be more classic in nature. His version of Farella (to me) is more elegant, showing great restraint. On the spectrum of fruit, his wines are fresher, more herbal notes than what you will find in the Realm version. Comparatively, I think the Realm house style is denser, richer, the tannins being rounder, polished. More emphasis on fruit. The beautiful thing about wine is that both approaches (among others) can co-exist…just depends on your mood, the food you are pairing with, the company, the occasion, etc.
To the question about reopening our estate…yes, we are aiming for a summer target which is of course dependent on Covid, local regulations, etc. We are aiming to launch our new website in late spring which will give members the ability to book an appointment online through their account. The reopening will mark a new chapter but we still have a long, long way to go. We acquired the two adjacent Hartwell parcels last year which includes the hilltop vineyard and house. We still have a lot more development ahead, in the form of expanding caves, renovating the tank rooms, replanting vineyards, moving the driveway, etc. But it will be nice to welcome guests again on property – to take stock of how far we’ve traveled, and yet to also look ahead to the next phase.
Back soon with part 2.