Community Tasting Note

• Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 95 points

  August 2, 2022 - This wine is way better than it has any right to be, especially considering the numerous vineyards involved in the blend and the 7000+ cases being made. Starts with a rich and powerfully expressive nose of creme de cassis and violets. Really true to vintage, this is upfront and lovely, with deeply concentrated dark fruit that is expansive and showing very well right out of the chute. Showing a suave and seamless mouthfeel, with a silky texture and rounded edges, this wine will seduce you into downing the bottle before you know it. Unlike the 18 edition that clearly needs some time, this wine is ready to go with a little bit of air. Pretty great, and a touch above the 18 for me.

  7 people found this helpful 8,510 views

29 Comments

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/2/22, 10:54 PM - Nice note! Have not tasted one of these, but sounds like a pretty good QPR based on your review....I think this would be in my wheelhouse.....question is whether it will shut down soon? Thoughts?

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/3/22, 7:22 AM - I've never really known the Bard to shutdown. Sometimes it isn't in a good spot to drink for a while after release, but it's not an ultra serious brick house wine that has that type of slumber. This 2019 edition is ready to go already with a little air, and I wouldn't hesitate to open it.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 3:34 PM - Cristal, thanks for the note here.....I haven't touched my '19s yet....and so many '19s are not as open and approachable as they were originally marketed to be. Good to know this one is. I have espoused many times on here about buying 95 point wines for under $100, as opposed to buying 97-98 pt wines for $200+. The qpr for 2-3 more points just doesn't help my wallet, nor float my boat all that much.

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/3/22, 3:42 PM - Hi Mark - I hear you. I've floated between looking for those QPR "deals" and trying to buy less overall, but the absolute best wines regardless of the price over the years. The longer I've been around Napa, the more jaded I've become on pricing. There's a ton of collusion and pressure to raise each year. The vast majority of $200 or now $300 bottles won't be as good as this 7000 case blend by Realm. But when you have a superstar wine, it makes this Realm seem like crap by comparison. :) There's no winning in this game.
  
  All that said, I think this wine is exactly what is supposed to be: a high production, high profit wine for Realm that hits above its weight and price point and will satisfy the vast majority of cab buyers.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 4:28 PM - Cristal, I couldn't agree with you more, on all counts.....however, I'm finding that as prices climb ever skyward, I'm even more jaded and to a certain degree psychologically unable to fully enjoy even the 'superstar' wines due to their tariffs and the feeling that I'm being played for a 'sucker' by those in power in Napa......I'm not having any fun buying power yachts and vacation homes for those in Napa. They never invite me to come stay on vaca or offer to teach me to water ski behind their yachts on their way down to Catalina for dinner........

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/3/22, 4:38 PM - You don't get those invites? What a shame. :) Kidding. Really, it's the land owners and wineries that have been in Napa for decades that make out like bandits. The new entrants are usually losing money, some just to have a label and wine to show their friends. The billionaire class. Napa being adult Disneyland certainly doesn't help things for the Napa aficionado looking for reasonable prices and high quality.
  
  What personally offends me is when, without naming names, wineries release a 2020 wine, raise the price and then lie about when the grapes were picked or in some amazing cases, don't mention it at all and compare the vintage to 2016! They really do take us for fools at times.
  
  I guess the smart money is moving towards Paso. I buy less Napa these days, more French, but that ain't cheap either. Now it's more about supporting the people I like who also happen to make amazing wine.
  
  But hey, who am I to complain? This isn't a rough life drinking these wines and going the places they take you.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 4:53 PM - You are exactly right....the generational transfer of land and wealth in Napa are what's driving up the costs. Old families maximize their asking price, 'sell out and get out' at outrageous totals and the new buyers who are financing their outrageously priced purchases, have to raise prices to pay that float. It has to come crashing down at some point. If it doesn't, then it is but another mile marker on the ever-increasing gulf between the haves and have-nots in this country. I am clearly turning the corner into a 'have-not'. It's a good thing I've stockpiled the cellar the last 10 years because there won't be any buying in the next 10 like that, ever again.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 4:58 PM - ps.....and don't get me started on all the BS with the '20 vintage. ANY wine made out of those grapes should be a crime. I noticed that Meiomi (are they now owned by Constellation?) has deployed an interesting tactic. Their latest wine is a NV....they have no year on the label as they blend years together just to dump their '20 grapes on the unsuspecting public. Nevermind, that for years they've been adding about 30% in syrah to their 'pinot' and not telling the public they were doing it at all. And quite frankly, while not trying to sound like a snob, the 97% of wine buyers who shop at their supermarket, Walgreens, WalMart, and the like wouldn't know or taste a good or bad vintage if it hit them upside the head. Truly, only something like 2-3% of all wine drinkers have the palate or the understanding to tell a good wine from a bad one.

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/3/22, 5:17 PM - No doubt. There's a very small fraction of the wine universe that buys expensive wine...and I mean very small fraction. It's why Napa can't produce more wine and sell it unless they draw in the international crowd. Realm is making some headway there, but generally it's only names like Screaming Eagle, Harlan and Opus One that are known throughout the world.
  
  Most money in wine is made at the $10-30 price point. Meiomi was bought by Constellation because they are a cash machine, churning out and selling over 1 million cases a year. I think they sold for over $300 million, which is way more than most Napa wineries are worth. The average consumer of wine opens it within 2 days, which is why they oxidize and add sugar. All those vines in the central valley of CA? Where the bunnies, rubber tires and arsenic show up in the harvest? Yep, that's Meiomi. There's no hand picking grapes when you make a million cases. Additives galore, but you are absolutely right in that the average person wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Give them enough sugar and sweetness and they are happy. That's where the money is at, even if it's super disturbing to those of us very into wine.
  
  Even a winery like Realm needs a high production money maker, and that's Bard. Vice Versa is now copying that model with "Spinning Plates". You start with the best possible wine you can blend, losing money on it, and then once it gets critical acclaim and traction you blend in less expensive grapes and make more.
  
  Ah...wine. Such a love/hate relationship.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 5:54 PM - "Ah...wine. Such a love/hate relationship."
  
  Truer words, were never spoken.

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/3/22, 6:51 PM - You guys are so doom & gloom!
  
  I do take issue with some of what you guys say....
  
  First, I think people are more aware of wine than you think....I would say that a small percentage of us are obsessed with wine, while others, although can likely tell the difference between good wines and bad ones, just don't care enough to spend their money. on it. I have seen it numerous times where I have opened some nice wines for people who don't drink a lot, and they will say it tastes great or is one of the best wines they have ever tasted, but they. would never spend $100+ on a bottle of wine.....that is what separates normal people from us!
  
  Second, I don't believe for a moment that Vice Versa was ever losing money. I do agree that some wineries get greedy, but typically, I see them raising their prices or sourcing from somewhere else. I just received an email from Harlan, their 2020 release is $1075....I am pretty sure they are making good money and sincerely doubt they are bastardizing their wines. Other wineries (and a lot of start-ups) end up sourcing their grapes from places like Beckstoffer (and more recently, VHR) and then charge a premium. I will say, that many wineries, going back to Gallo or earlier, make wines that are expensive and of high quality to gain acclaim and make their money selling cheaper wines. Even Bordeaux and many Napa wines have their top tier wine, and then lower tiered wines. Yes, the majority of money is in the lower tiered wines. Yes, it is becoming more rare for wineries to maintain excellence at a reasonable price....hence the popularity of MacDonald and other's like them.
  
  I will be the first to admit that I am spoiled, and very grateful to lead such a privileged life that I actually drink many wines other's only dream about....don't get me wrong, I have a huge bucket list of wines I have yet to taste, but every year, that list shrinks down little by little. Then again, present company excluded, I know I appreciate wine more than most people. I have no problem drinking many wines I consider dead, but still appreciate....I mean how many people get to drink a 1961 Bordeaux (and those usually aren't dead) But even bad years, e.g., 1987 Bordeaux, a lean year for Bordeaux, but you still appreciate what winemakers did that year, and you appreciate the fact that now, how many people even have an opportunity to taste those wines? Of course, I wouldn't want to drink those all day, but every once in while, they are appreciated, at least by me.
  
  I will also agree that it is a love/hate affair....especially when you see wines you love get more popular and prices keep rising. I am sure we have all snubbed some offers on principle, i.e., unwilling to pay $300+ for a bottle that we used to get for $100+...of course, on the other end, I wish MacDonald and Marcassin would raise their prices so I can get off the waitlist! Enough rambling! Thanks for getting me started!!! 😂

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/3/22, 7:48 PM - I tried to stay away but it’s like driving by a car accident and not looking…
  
  1. I could not take the pressure of each year worrying about fire, hail, deeeze, mild PWN, too much rain, not enough rain, not enough sun, too much sun, etc etc. that would grind yeara off my life aka charge a bit extra when you have expensive contracts/land
  
  2. I used to have cellar defenders or drink wines that are good. Now I save up all Pennies and only buy awesome wines, irrelevant of price. Yes they are all not expensive wines but all have to rate very high for me so they are not wines I walk into the proverbial cellar and look the other way to ignore. I have to Want to Coravin every wine I now buy to taste or it’s a pass for me.
  
  3. 2020 will be my favorite Napa vintage ever. This is not sarcasm but reality. I will buy next to no wines and not worry or think twice. I have no self control, LOVE Bordeaux 2020, so #winning
  
  4. I could care less what wineries charge. I buy it until I think it’s over priced and move on. There is a super high demanded wine in this group I most likely will pass on as the price has doubled in 2/3 years with no end in site.
  
  5. Once you really really know Bordeaux , there are a Ton of wines that without knowing what they cost one would assume $200+ yet cost $75-$150. These exist all day.
  
  6. I am done.

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/3/22, 8:16 PM - Lol. You guys crack me up! We all have so many hard and fast opinions on wine and love to rant about it all. It's part of what makes wine fun. Naturally we are all entitled, spoiled...you name it. That's what comes from people spending $300 on a bottle of wine. Opinions are not in short supply.
  
  Let me pile on in LIOF format:
  
  1. VV has lost money, but they aren't now. When you source you have to be able to sell the bottle for a price that is greater than production cost. That usually takes time, but is definitely possible. When you buy the land at $1mm a planted acre, you better have a lot of cash flow and hope the land gains value because the wine isn't going to cover it.
  
  2. Harlan has had their land for like 40 years. They mint money. They are also releasing a 2020 at all their properties and raising their price. That lost me.
  
  3. Wine has become crazy popular but most people still don't know anything about it. When we meet new friends, we will often blind wine at different price points to see what they think. The sweeter the better for most. Now, if we take away the blind and spend time going side by side and describing why one wine is a higher quality than the other, they tend to catch on. It's a process for everyone, but most never get a chance to experience it. And many don't give a crap either.
  
  4. LIOF - you have like 6000 bottles of high end wine. You buy everything!
  
  5. The wine business isn't easy, and I don't begrudge those who endeavor into it profits. There's a difference between running a good business and making good money and gouging people. There are very few wineries that don't have to distribute their wines to retailers, and where I can't find them list price or cheaper, so that's really the measure of a good DTC model. Otherwise, why pay $300 when they sell it to a retailer for $150 and you pay $300 or less from a local store? No loyalty in that model.
  
  6. Alex is unlikely to break the pattern of modest price increases, since his cost of grapes is so low and he really believes in keeping the price reasonable for his loyal base of clients.
  
  Done! Sorry!

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/3/22, 8:38 PM - OK Lite.....now tell us how you really feel!
  
  BTW....like you, I buy what I like regardless of price! I am pretty much done with buying now anyway, although I may still get some 2019 Napa, for those wineries releasing this year....of course, if I ever get offered Mac Donald, I will likely buy no matter how old I am! I would also add to your list that a lot of older Napa wines can be had at a fraction of some of the current prices, and are still delicious (as my last tasting notes show)
  
  Not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but my recent trip to Napa where most wineries were showing their 2018s really got me excited, and like a boy in a candy store with a credit card, I got carried away! Nuff said!

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/3/22, 8:48 PM - LOL Cristal! I will continue Lite's format too....
  
  1. I know very little about wine!
  
  2. The more I learn about wine, the more I realize how little I know.
  
  3. The more I talk and read comments from you guys, the more I realize I know even less than the little I think I know!
  
  4. Talking about wine is still fun, as is listening to other's opinions, and something that, even in my ignorance, I thoroughly enjoy!
  
  5. The most important thing about wine, IMO, is knowing your own palate! I see too many people swayed by others.
  
  6. I talk too much!!!
  
  7. I will likely continue to talk to much because although you really can teach an old dog new tricks.....I am more stubborn than old dog!
  
  Cheers, and I hope I get to share wines with each of you someday!

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 8:53 PM - Lol, Lite.........or walking through the red light district in Amsterdam......and NOT looking.
  
  1. There are risks in every business. It's just a part of life (being in business). Napa should reduce prices in off years, as Bdx does, but they never will. They insist on a model that just rips off their friends and their buyers, in the bad years.
  
  2. The coravin is a good way to experience wines and make a buy/no buy decision, for sure. I'm just not sold on all its claims. Likewise, I have given up on buying marginal wines. If I'm still buying as I get older, they will be all high quality decisions.
  
  3. Likewise with 2020, a couple bottles of whites, literally. I think I've had five bottles through the cellar in total. No reds, other than a few Turleys from Paso and no '20s from Bdx either after I cut myself off with the '19 vintage, while planning out my final 25-30 years, in this atmosphere!
  
  4. I do care what wineries charge, and you do too, because you stop buying from them when it gets too crazy! I focus more and more on QPR with each passing year.
  
  5. I agree with you on Bdx.....there are plenty of reasonably priced, high quality wines. More seem to be emerging every year.
  
  6. Fini.......

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 9:07 PM - Cristal......your CT reviews are crazy entertaining sometimes. You crack up a lot of people on here, too.
  
  1. I know zero about VV. I count on you guys to educate me.
  
  2. You are dead bang on with Harlan. I've never been into status symbols, but they, like Screaming Eagle and a few others reside there. I've never had a bottle of Harlan other than their great QPR bottling The Mascot. I never bought those Jordache jeans or fancy colored suede Puma sneakers in high school, either.
  
  3. You are dead bang on with this entire paragraph. I do the same and have seen the same.
  
  4. Lol....so true! I think LIOF should change his handle to, MHEO.......(MrHighEndOnly). I'm so jelly.
  
  5. I continue to make some awesome auction purchases and often at far lesser pricing than the wines originally were, although as the country has been awash in money printed by the FED, the deals are fewer and farther between. One good recession should bring down auction prices, again.
  
  6. I don't know Alex but have heard good things about him and his desire to keep his wines somewhat affordable. I applaud him for doing that. Same for Turley and all their zins, still extremely reasonable after decades of exemplary winemaking and high demand with often, low production. I probably will never give up my buying from them, unless Larry passes and the family sells out to one of the big conglomerates and pricing gets out of control.
  
  Salut!

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/3/22, 9:08 PM - Guys all of this is what wine is about- not just what goes down our gullet.
  
  There are no wrong opinions, just different perspectives. I mean who is to say if super fruity manipulated wines are any different than organic SVD high quality juice from a taste perspective? I mean it’s all grape juice which ultimately comes down to preferences- and honestly all of our friends that make fun of us are logically correct but then again… is Love logical?
  
  Hey I have 3,000 not 6,000. A lot of those are futures :). I know I know. I bet 1,000 are 375s. Yeah not doing myself any favors.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/3/22, 9:28 PM - All good fun, Lite!
  
  So many good wines in this world yet to try, Lite and so many alternatives to all our overpriced Cali ones, too. The discovery and the chase of new wines are what keeps me going........lol.

• Decanting Queen commented:

  8/4/22, 12:57 AM - Just reading and lmao. Thanks guys

• AGELVIS commented:

  8/4/22, 3:07 AM - I’m with DQ, although now I’m tired of reading. ;)
  
  Ryan is making me think I need to appreciate Bordeaux more (scary thought). ;)

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/4/22, 7:25 AM - I am in a different place than you Mark.....I have accumulated wines I enjoy (yes, there are a lot out there I have not tasted, in fact, many I have never heard of...which I often realize when I read some the notes on CT)....I have two hopes....
  1. I have enough wine for the rest of my life (although buying is tasting is fun!), and more importantly,
  2. I pray my palate doesn't change!!!

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/4/22, 10:19 AM - AGElvis - Bordeaux rocks, and like CA, there are tones of wineries, but many more choices of blends! My issue with many Bordeaux wines is they take quite a bit of time to peak, which, as I get older, I don't think I have. On the positive side, there are still many aged Bordeaux wines on the secondary market that can sometimes be had at a reasonable price. For some hedonistic Bordeaux that can be great young, you would likely need to talk to others here....many people enjoy wines much younger than I.

• AGELVIS commented:

  8/4/22, 4:18 PM - I hope we can drink together one day I’d Rather. Mark and I drink together quite often even though he’s in FL and I’m in TX. I’ve been out to AZ to drink with Lite It On Fire, which was super fun. Cheers my friend!

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/4/22, 6:46 PM - AG, I second that. I've done some virtuals with I'd Rather (Jason) and he has some beautiful wines and great commentary.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/4/22, 6:49 PM - Jason, I have the same 2 hopes.......

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/4/22, 9:48 PM - Thanks Mark....I have faith in us!

• I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine commented:

  8/4/22, 9:50 PM - AG Elvis,
  Any time you are in MN let me know! Love to pop some corks with you!

• AGELVIS commented:

  8/5/22, 1:29 AM - I was just two weeks in MN. I should have said something sooner. ;)

Add a Comment