Realm 2004 release tasting at Kaspar's

Juan Mercado came to town just after the bottling of the 2004 Realm releases, so Michael Gordon put together an offline at Kaspar's to help unveil the wines. The goal was to have a Washington-themed tasting (with a few California ringers) sandwiched around the Realm tasting.

We started with a few whites to warm up our palates.

• 2004 Peay Vineyards Chardonnay Estate 84 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Very ripe pear. Clean. A bit ripe for my taste. Nice acid on the finish. A big, bold Chardonnay with very little oak signature.

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• 2001 L'Ecole No. 41 Sémillon Estate Seven Hills Vineyard 80 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  A bit yeasty and yogurty. Very spicy. Not great.

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• 2004 Chinook Wines Sémillon 85 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Sharp with some charcoal and grass on the nose. Nice and fresh. A solid effort.

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Next we moved into the Realm wines. These were all 2 weeks post bottling, but despite this they showed rather expressively and had not shut down yet. As a rule, these are simply massive wines that all seem to be pushing 15% alcohol and yet have the concentration and intensity of fruit to remain quite interesting.

• 2004 Realm Cellars The Tempest

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  ($65) 60% Merlot (Napanook), 35% Cabernet Sauvignon (Madrona Ranch) and 5% Petit Verdot (Napanook).
  A big, warm, round wine. Perhaps a bit searing from alcohol. A nice whiff of leather on the nose.

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• 2004 Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  100% Cabernet Sauvignon. A nice, edgy nose with stalk and violet. A big blast of cassis on the palate. I love the lushness. Definitely a bit vegetal, but I really like the slightly herbaceous personality. Slightly bitter on the finish.

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• 2004 Realm Cellars The Bard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot. Thorevilos fruit. I don't have anything else in my notes on this one.

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• 2004 Realm Cellars Farella Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville

  A nice leafy edge to this. A bit of graphite and mineral on the palate. A big, powerful Cab.

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Next up with dinner was a series of wines.

• 1995 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Yummy! Lots of tobacco, black/dark personality, cocoa. Mmm, a very round palate, delish, really singing. This was my last Pahlmeyer and as good a bottle as I have ever tasted. A gorgeous Napa blend with terrific minerality and a little Old-world edge to it.

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• 2001 Arietta Red Wine H Block Hudson Vineyards 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Very nice with very Cab Franc aromatics. Mmm, grippy, really nice verve, wow! A second pour is even better with sneaky tannins. Sheesh, this gets more and more muscular with air. This really seems to need 5-10 years. It's really wound up and tight but a real beauty.

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• 2001 Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah 75 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Nasty. Pickel barrel nose. I really dislike that. Candied fruit. Black cherry. Tomato peel. Some grip to it but yuck, I really didn't like this in the glass.

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• 2002 Brian Carter Cellars L'Étalon 85 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Stalky with some cola. Sweet, round, agreeable but with very little structure. Candied. Some residual sugar.

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• 1996 Peter Michael Les Pavots

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

  Very mineral. Tomato. Mmm, nice cassis. Thsi is supercharged with huge structure, searing yet with surprisingly bright acidity and slightly lean fruit.

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• 2003 Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  Really fresh acidity. Impressive showing.

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• 2001 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille Flawed

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Corked

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• 2003 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  A very fast sip was inky, pure syrup of Cabernet.

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• 2002 Abeja Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 82 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Rootbeer. Very sweet.

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• 2001 Pepper Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  A bit porty, leathery, and stalky. Nice palate with chunky, black fruit, leather, very heavy. Wow, this is pretty nice actually.

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• 2002 Andrew Will Sorella 89 Points

  USA, Washington

  Some definite volatile acidity. Very bright and quite lush. This shows less freshness and acidity than the 2003 Andrew Will Champoux, but there is impressive structure to this.

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• 2003 Long Shadows Wineries Merlot Pedestal

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Resinous. Cinnamon. Very spicy with big structure. This has a definite Washington acid signature, but it's stern, black and brooding.

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Finally we finished with a few dessert wines, pretty much all ponderous.

• NV Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX 1927 Dulce Viejo

  Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles

  Lots of raisin, wow this is thick yet with some nice salinity in the background.

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• NV Chambers Rosewood Muscadelle (Tokay) Rare

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen

  Maple syrup and treacle. Heavy.

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• NV Yalumba Muscat Museum Reserve Rutherglen

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen

  Very dominant notes of orange and orange peel, very spirity. Very obviously Muscat.

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