November 18, 2023 - Part of a dinner with my wine group. We had the 2013 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, the 2012 Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon, and the 2015 Lewellilng Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Wight. The Hobbs and the Realm were both decanted. 2nd of 3 bottles that I purchased direct from Realm and my first since 2016. I have to admit I was massively disapponted in this bottle. I loved it 2016, giving it one of my highest ratings on CT. But last night? It seemed clunky and a one note wine. Not a lot of spice notes, just lots of thick fruit. Long finish and a nice nose. In fairness, the other 5 members of my wine group loved it. I guess I just missed something.
August 16, 2022 - Decanted half an hour. Lots of dark fruits, chocolate and berries. Wonderful bottle.
July 30, 2022 - Still many years of life ahead. Fantastic fruit and balance
June 16, 2022 - At Hawksmoor NYC. Unfortunately, this bottle didn't live up to its potential (perhaps overshadowed by giants next to it tonight like Harlan). A bit diluted and quite tannic, this would have benefitted with another 5 years of sitting. The elements of greatness were all there: big fruit, depth, rich vanilla and cassis, it just felt premature and didn't quite integrate until the very end of the night when the alcohol overgrew. Patience.
May 8, 2022 - With Piers and Lisa at Crab Creek. Between sidecars, rambunctious dogs and Harper’s ukulele concert, too many distractions for a note but the wine was loved by all.
April 30, 2022 - Rich and bountiful, but keeps it all very well together with amazing class.
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July 11, 2021 - Had the wine along with 2012 Realm TOK and 2012 Abreu Capella. The Schrader was softer than the Realm. The Abreu was the most elegant of the three. The Schrader was fruit forward with more sweetness than Realm. It exhibited cigar box and black fruits. The Abreu wine was the best of all three with a 97 rating and just a beautiful wine. It was the most integrated and interesting. You could taste the winemaker expertise and how Abreu personalized the wine and made what he preferred rather than focusing on price and distribution. The Schrader was built for the masses and designed not to have any hard edges. The Realm was built bigger than the Schrader which made me believe that in three years the Realm will outshine the Schrader wine with a higher concentration of sweet fruit, but not the Abreu which remains two points above. These are all big wines and integrated due to age. There is was very little nose present in the Schrader and Abreu. The Realm wine had a terrific nose and the most upfront of all three bottles. I would recommend drinking the Abreu and Schrader now or in the next five years. The Realm could be opened now with a four hour decant and certainly enjoyed or even better the next day, but you could also wait two years if you prefer a two hour decant and more sweet fruit on day one in comparison to the Schrader and Abreu. Unless you had all three at the same time then you would be perfectly fine with the Realm alone and believe it had wonderful sweet fruit. I kept these wines for a week and they did get better and bigger. So, do not hesitate to open them and take your time finishing the bottles over a 7 day period.
February 14, 2021 - One of the best ever (Napa Cabs, that is). Will it get better? I don’t know. If you do, let me know.
January 10, 2021 - We had some good friends over for dinner. We started with a 2012 Hobbs Beckstoffer Dr. Crane for our appetizers, went to a 2013 Hobbs CS as the middle wine while I was cooking dinner and then to this served with the main course of Veal Birds. This was the star of the show. Dark fruit with hints of chocolate on the nose. The palate was dark plums, dark cherry, figs, sweet tobacco and coffee. The finish went on and on.
December 29, 2020 - It’s got that rich and chocolatey Benoit on top of a Hershey’s black cherry Sunday thing going on that draws you in with the first sip. Cardamom and Christmas spices soon follow, along with a wave of wild blackberry, dark plum, and black raspberry flavors. It’s a mouthful on the initial attack and continues mid-palate, presenting as fully stacked with layer upon layer of gooey goodness. There is a bit of a stall due to the heaviness of the fruit, but it manages to push through and continue flowing without too much weight bogging it down. The back end finds some booze along its final roll to the finish, begging for more air (and likely just a little more time in bottle). Decanting for a few hours helped to gas-off much of the lingering alcohol hovering at the back on the mouth, but not completely.
Long-story-short, the front end is magnificent; the back end finishes ever-so-slightly angular at the moment. The last few sips also ended up bitter, as dollops of sediment materialized on the final laps of consumption. This was my last bottle (yay impatience!). For those holding, I’d say continue to hold a couple more years to potentially smooth out the rump on this beast (based on this bottle’s showing at least).
It’s been 2.5 years since my last bottle, which ironically showed less of the liqueur notes on the tail than this recent bottle. Oh, wine; you unpredictable meteorologist. What will you be like tomorrow……..?