Community Tasting Note

• Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 95 points

  January 16, 2023 - Blind tasting of 19 Realm Dr Crane, 19 Myriad Elysian, 19 Memento Mori Crane and 19 Schrader Heritage. All Crane except for the Schrader. These were double decanted and consumed over a 10 hour period.
  
  Initial impression after about 4 hours of air had Elysian in the lead, followed closely by Memento Mori with Realm next and Schrader last. The Elysian and Realm were the most similar (surprisingly), with both displaying chalky tannins and deep concentration along with the vanilla and oak most typically seen in the Mike Smith wines. The Elysian had a more expressive nose and a longer finish, which gave it the edge. Meanwhile, the MM had excellent acidity and lift, with a stronger tannin profile and slightly less body. The Schrader was most similar to the MM, but had redder fruit, less concentration and while elegant, overall was a bit more forgettable.
  
  By hour 10 things had changed quite a bit. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Realm developed a gorgeous nose, tons of energy and a super long finish, while the Elysian started to recede, shortening up on the finish and not developing with more time. The MM kept integrating and getting better, with a great mix of elegance, energy and sophistication. The Schrader also improved in a similar way to the MM, just with a redder profile and less body, which again made it less interesting to me.
  
  The takeaways here are pretty consistent with my view of these producers/wine makers and the source. The Realm ended up the best of the bunch, but it will hit you with oak, vanilla etc and can come across heavy handed at times. While it's not as over the top of Elysian, and certainly comes with better development than most from this site, you probably don't need to pour it for your French wine loving buddies. I've been buying this wine since 2012 and it has literally never lost a Crane blind, despite running it in about 10 of them over the years.
  
  The Elysian is typical of Mike Smith's style. Hard to ever beat his wines young, as they start amazingly gorgeous and expressive, with pure fruit that is super hedonistic. The downside is in my experience, they top out young, and don't have the complexity or balance to age well. They are a wine to drink in the first few years and think of as dessert in a bottle.
  
  Both the MM and Schrader are elegant, with a style that probably appeals to a larger crowd. They aren't stuffed with massive concentration, but they are more seamless, have less overt vanilla and oak, and display crisper acidity. I prefer the MM, not just because it was Crane vs TK here, but because the profile is darker and I think Sam gets more concentration out of the wine. I'd bet on these aging the best of the bunch.
  
  One thing I will note is I do think especially for Dr. Crane, these are wines to drink young. In my experience, they don't really age super well and once you get past the unreal purity of fruit, the rest becomes less interesting, and you are just getting a sharper wine with less going on.

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5 Comments

• AGELVIS commented:

  1/16/23, 12:30 PM - Great overview. Lots to digest. Cheers Cristal!

• Cristal2000 commented:

  1/16/23, 2:31 PM - Cheers!

• JEP007 commented:

  1/16/23, 4:46 PM - Love seeing DrC lineups. Curious how B Cellars and VV would have sized up in this horizontal. I think a full 2013 DrC horizontal would be very interesting as we enter the 10-year window, seems like that vintage is just now waking up...

• Cristal2000 commented:

  1/16/23, 7:55 PM - I'm skeptical, but it would be very interesting to see what a decade has done to Dr. Crane. Not sure many have made a Crane for that long, especially at a high level, but let me know if you get it done. Love to hear the results!

• TastesGoodToMe commented:

  1/18/23, 7:11 AM - Cristal - love the side by side comparison as well as your commentary on how the wines changed over time once being opened (which helps me in terms of knowing which wines to potentially age longer). You are very lucky to have drank all of these together. Nice note! Cheers

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