Still at the top of its game after 30-60 mins in decanter or 1-2 hours breathing in bottle. I wasn’t sure when I first opened it-seemed tannic but less impressive. But once it opened up, as good as the last 2 bottles I drank in 2022 & 2023. It is my 5th bottle out of a case I bought-great juice!! I’m not sure it will improve, but it still has a long life at this level.
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Opened for Christmas dinner; let it sit for about 2 hours before sharing. Followed for about 2 hours. Dark purple color. Nose shows dark fruits and a bit of VA. That blows off. Powerful and rich, perhaps a bit too much. Concentrated and with depth. Layers of flavor. Showing a little bit of heat. A powerhous eof a wine that can improve with more age,
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Deep ruby red. Dark and fruity nose with dark chocolate with baking spices and blueberries. Medium bodied and very well integrated with medium tannins (6.5/10). Similar notes on the palate with dark fruit and spices. Definitely a little over its peak. If you have it drink it. Medium to medium plus finish. Drink now.
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Double decanted for 2 hrs, deep ruby, black cherries with a touch of vanilla on both nose & palate (the oak has almost fully integrated), med/firm tannins (typical 13), long finish; outstanding, drink or preferably hold (I will wait at least another year for my last bottle)
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Amazing! Having this as a pop and pour out of a magnum reminded me of this wine’s earlier days from the 750 ml bottles. Powerful, rich, smooth, flavorful, with a long finish. A sad day at the end, however, since this is my last bottle of this…
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This is a wonderful mature New World wine, full of black and red berries, nutmeg, oak, dark chocolate and licorice. I could drink this all day and would score it a point or two hire if not for the slight lingering heat on the palate. At 13.5% ABV this wine would've been electric.
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On open this was earthy with topsoil, drying tannins, macerated blackberries and powdered cocoa. This lasted for 30 min. Shifted to our other wine, a ‘14 Colgin Tychson Hill, before reverting.
40 min after opening, a completely different wine, and I’m not sure I’m happy about it. Gone were the secondary/tertiary notes and out popped a stripper from a large fake birthday cake. Blueberry, blackberry, hint of crème pie, big and boisterous. Frankly almost too much after the Colgin.
I’m not scoring this because I’m still processing how this wine behaved. Both sides of the transformation were equally delicious but the shift in palate was frankly confounding! I’m angry and ecstatic at the same time and then I’m ecstatic and angry on the other side. Early on I would have said drink up, past prime, 40 min later I would’ve said let it rest. My brain is garbled. . .
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Strong fruity nose of blackberries, sweet plums, raisins, dried figs, tobacco, spices, cedar, vanilla, leather, earth, chocolates, coffee, alcohol and peppercorn.
Full bodied, bold and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry and extremely fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, cooked cherries, figs, raisins, vanilla, cedar, licorice, cola, chocolates, mocha, coffee, peppercorn, earth and tobacco,
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This is a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Very tasty, rich and extracted, with nice complexity and a great mouthfeel.
Good right out of the bottle and better as it opens up. I gave it couple of hours to open up properly.
Still young and will age nicely in the next 10 to 20 years.
Robert Parker 100 points.
This 2013 vintage is drinking so nicely now. Very yummy, but might be too sweet for some.
A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% Petit Verdot.
14.6% alcohol by volume.
96 points.
$350.
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No notes taken. I’ve had this twice before (rated 96 pts) and it again showed great. There is a lot of depth and intensity which was a bit too overwhelming after drinking Pinot Noir before, hence the lower rating. Super expressive on the nose and palate with lots of ripe dark fruit, not too jammy or overripe but quite ripe, loads and loads of spices, reminiscent of Australian Shiraz, some minty notes and a touch of chocolate. Superb definition from A to Z. A wall of fine tannins, high but well integrated acidity, creamy texture and good length. This will still have to shed some baby fat but can become a really great wine. The alcohol is not noticeable and the wine is quite harmonious. All in all, a great wine.
Decanting: Not decanted, good from the go. No extensive decanting needed.
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Deep ruby colored. Fat and powerful nose with ripe dark and red berries. Lots of ripe cassis, cherry jam, dark plum and some soft vanilla on the palate - alcohol is a little too hot. Full bodied with a medium acidity. Velvety tannins, not fully integrated yet. Amazing complexity and concentration - dozens of fruit layers. Very long and savory finish with lots of dark berries. This is powerful wine which needs more time to soften out a little bit but I’m not sure if this will ever happen. I can see why Parker rated it 100 points - but for my palate it’s way too concentrated and fat. I’ll keep my other bottles for another decade. Around 11,400 bottles of this vintage were produced. (IG)
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Opened in the bottle for a few hours. Initially a cassis bomb but really opened up nicely. Ultra ripe red fruit, cassis, vanilla, and mineral. Structured but not tannic and ready to go. Started to fall apart and turn syrupy day two. I’d say drink these now. Purchased at release from Realm.
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A gorgeous wine, this is aging very gracefully. While it no longer has the excitement and intensity of flavors that it exhibited in its early years, it is still incredibly smooth and rich, with complex flavors that are beyond my ability to describe, but there is still plenty of red and black fruit along with some chocolate. I just very much enjoyed this. Had as a pop and pour, but waiting in each glass awhile before we started it. It has a small amount of sediment, so pour the last bit carefully. Very disappointed that I now only have my magnum left.
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Wow. Bigger than any Bard I have had, and maybe not it a good way. Drank half on day one, put the other half in a half bottle and recorded for day two. Day one: some prune and raisin notes, but that blew off and by the last glass I was enjoying the dark fruit, mocha, and modern take on a cab blend. Day two: prune and raisiny notes came back, with heat. Not bad, just disjointed. Have one left, and will wait another five years.
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Double decanted and drank over 4 hours. This bottle was great from pop and is ready to go from the start but tannin softened thru the night. Dark fruits with lots of blueberry and cassis. Silky mouthfeel and soft tannin. Drink now but should go for another 10 yrsd
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Opened, decanted and served aboot 1 hour later. Enjoyed with food (traditional Thanksgiving turkey and associated side dishes, in case you were wondering). Dark purple color. Nose offers a little VA but that blows off while swirling in the glass. (And this was even after decanting). rich plum and black cherries on the intro with a tangy blackberry note. Good acidity to help carry the richness of the wine. Delicious. This is a powerhouse wine with layers of flavors going on. Will likely improve with anpther few years of cellar time.
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Opened, tasted to expose shoulder, audouzed for 8 hours then decanted for 2 hours and back into the bottle to take to the restaurant. Great nose of black fruit, luscious fruit on the palate, very smooth, long finish. Well integrated, no hard edges here. Great with a Prime CAB strip steak. Drank with 2012 Opus One, 2010 Chateau Brane-Cantenac and 1989 Chateau Lynch-Bages. The Bard was the WOTN. Opus One needed more air but was still excellent (96). Lynch (94) and Brane (92) showed well. I gave The Bard a 99 because I believe it could improve with more age but just superb now as well.
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Wine is very dark with a huge nose of black fruit, dark chocolate and cassis. It is deeply layered with similar notes with a refined silky mouthfeel. This is pure Napa in style but retains energy,freshness and balance. Fantastic on it's own and even better matched with a bone in rib eye. I don't drink wines like this as much as I used to but glad to have a few more. This is in a sweet spot now and would not hesitate to open. Decant or filter for sediment.
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See prior notes - ridiculously good and has rounded into full potential. Dark fruits still there on front end, and finish lasted almost 50 seconds. Graphite, pencil lead, medium spice, tar and rose notes. Tannins have mellowed, and opened beautifully in decanter
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It is really sad that Realm refuses to reproduce this wine. The 2013 Bard is truly a 100 pt wine. While the 2014, 2015, 2016 and of course 2017 are very good wines, they are shadows of the 2013. Maybe in time Realm will give in and add the Beckstoffer fruit into the Bard once again.
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Ahhh this brings me back to the days when Bard was the sh*t. Opened in the bottle for 4-5 hours and singing from the start. Loads of fine grained sediment but otherwise texturally mid to full bodied. Ripe yet still elegant and fresh. Sweet plums, blueberry, spearmint, cassis espresso, and milk chocolate. Plenty of time left but silky smooth with A nice intensity now.
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Delicious wine. Drank over 2 days. Day 1 pnp rich dark fruit, blackberry, cherry, chocolate...compared to 13 farella much sweeter and voluptuous. Farella less fruit, more broody, more secondary characteristics ie, leather, forest floor. Forgot to cork day 1. So bottle was uncorked all night. Day 2 was even better. Tannins softened but fruit was still amazing. Just a great wine
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Informal dinner, no detailed notes. My second encounter with this and it again delivered. Intense, complex, highly precise. An intriguing, full power sexy Napa nose in the highest spheres. Highly complex and well balanced on the palate but not as weightless as the best Napas. But then again, the 2013s just need a lot more time with all that stuffing and power the vintage has. Another thing that is quite mesmerizing is the very intense spiciness. All in all, this is a great wine which was singing after 90 minutes in the decanter. The high praises of the critics and on CT definitely seem deserved. 96+ for now with upside to the elusive 98+ category once mature.
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Dark and concentrated like all ‘13s. Oak and tannins have integrated and this is ready for business. Dark fruited profile with a long finish, black and red fruit mostly. 90 min later—red cherry, black cherry, plum, blackberry liquer, chocolate covered cherries, milk chocolate, faint mineral notes, some perfume notes pop up on the nose, but a warmth note also appears. Not sure how this develops over several hrs because it went too quick. This isn’t quite 100 WA pts.....yet, but it’s getting close
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Recent wine tasting. Flight included 2013 Pott Kaliholmabok. Realm was bigger and bolder. The wine was less sweet than the Pott wine which was softer in style. It is hard to fault either wine and liking one better depends on your style. In comparison if you like more concentration then the Realm wins out. The group of six preferred after a three hour slow ox the Pott for it's smooth finish. My take on day three is the Realm is gorgeous and because my liking is for more concentrated fruit it wins out at this time. I just preferred less sweetness on day three.
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From memory after a 1 hour double decant, deep ruby. black cherry & chocolate, med tannins, long finish; delicious, drink or preferably hold for another year or 3
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Thanks to Joel for bringing this great wine from a magnificent vintage. IMO the best days are still ahead, but last night it showed lots of fruits and minerals evolving throughout the night. It’s bold, nice finish and will go great with a fatty steak!
If I put my hands in one of this bottles I wouldn’t touch it until at least 2025...
93++ (hold).
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This reminds me a bit of Michael Jordan during the Wizards era: same guy and same number, but less precision, energy, and power. This wine, too, seems like a shadow of its old self, a decline that is especially pronounced in the four years since I rated it last (10/15 - 98 points). This still has incredible fruit, but the mouthfeel has deadened a bit, driven primarily by its lack of acidity. This is still a flavorful (and good) wine, but it's no longer an energetic (or great) one.
Dark purple, almost inky black in color; thick in body (think half and half); nose of cocoa beans, stewed blueberry, charred wood, and rosemary. Tastes of plum, milk chocolate, baked herbs, and pencil shavings, with a finish that coats the mouth like a milkshake (creamy, but not refreshing - almost stagnant). 14.6% alcohol. Blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. Decant two hours. 93+ at the moment.
And now onto the color commentary...
I understand my assessment of this wine coincides with the familiar Old World critique of California Cabernet: "sure, it tastes great early on, but it can’t age!" I think this critique is silly, since many Old World wines taste like crap early on and, maybe just maybe, if you store / open / decant / drink them in the right way, at the right time, with the right mindset, they will taste good... maybe, someday. Call me American, but I’ll enjoy my wine in this lifetime, thank you very much. Without apology, I loved this particular vintage of the Bard in 2015 and 2016, and I enjoyed it, albeit somewhat less, in the several times I tasted it in 2017 and 2018, while it seemed to be becoming more top-heavy and disjointed.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Bard is less impressive in 2019 than it was in 2015, and this kind of wine should have lasted longer. To call it “unresolved” would imply a future when it comes together, but I suspect the opposite is happening here: this wine is unwinding. Of course, this could be seen as a morality play: a blend made to be enjoyed in the short-term, without enough tannins or acidity, has its comeuppance ("Out out brief candle!," all that). But this mistakes the ending of the story for the whole of it. While recognizing this wine's decline, I think it's fair to appreciate that it had a certain greatness in the early going... but now it's time to batten down the hatches, and drink sooner rather than later!
Yes, a lovely CA Cab that is full of flavor... but 100? Not with us. We don't see how a reviewer could award this a perfect score. We have had 100-point wines ('61 Beychevelle, '74 Mondavi Reserve, '74 Phelps Martha's, '82 Mouton, Leoville, and Lafite, 2005 Alban Grenache) and this doesn't come close.
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This remains a really nice bottle of wine. Does it blow me away like the first few bottles did 3 or 4 years ago? No - but still very flavorful and smooth. Not as intense in flavors as in its early years, and perhaps just a hint too much acidity. But there are not too many wines that I would trade this for...
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Outstanding. Decadent fruit, good length. Although this seemed to already be in a good spot, I think there probably is little future development and would recommend drinking this over the next 18 months.
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Superb bottle of wine which confirmed my impression of the Realm 2015 horizontal and Realm Absurd vertical tastings in February: Realm’s wines are defined by their fresh and sensuous structure and texture, bringing ripe Napa sexiness in a very modern and elegant form to your palate. The biggest pleasure with this bottle? The high complexity. It changed its character constantly over the three hours. Started with 96 points climbed to 97 and 98 points, last glass after 3+ hours on a 94 to 95 points level. With 10 more years and tertiary aromas this wine could indeed live up to the 100 Points from Parker.
TN: A myriad of aromas on the nose and palate, constantly changing with a core of ripe but not overripe black fruit, loads of cassis, blackberries, dark and milk chocolate, mint, eucalyptus (at times slightly medicinal), tons of violets, some tobacco, fresh forest floor, at some point oak induced vanilla. Great structural frame with the sexiness and sensuality of Dr Crane and freshness and elegance added by grapes of the mountain vineyards. Noticeable but soft and velvety tannins, enough perfectly integrated acidity to handle the intense aromas, high aromatic complexity and precision, very long and intense finish. The complete package.
Decanting: Short decant of 30 minutes but it needed another 60 in the glass to reach its peak that night. I would advise to decant it for 2 hours at least.
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Color me the outlier...again... Maybe I need to trade in my palate for a new one...? If you're running late for work, the punchline for those holding bottles is to wait another year+. If you have time to kill, by all means, read on...
A year since my last bottle. A lot of love going around CT for the Bard. I had originally thought that the 2012 and 2013 Bards were far superior to the 2014 and 2015 versions (I probably still feel that way). However, this 2013 was missing the focus I was hoping it would've gained with some additional time in bottle. Not yet...if in fact "yet" is going to happen at some point. "Off bottle??" one might ask. Uh, sure. It was "off." But I suppose every bottle that doesn't hit one right is "off." Was it "off" in the technical "flawed" sense. No. But it was surely... off...especially when I look at the comparative heightened subjective experiences of my fellow CT-ers. It was almost enough to make me score this higher just for the sake of not posting a lesser review and personally seeming like a total jackass. Oh well, too late..... Cheers to "keeping it real" I suppose (my Achilles)... maybe I need to work more on refining my fibbing abilities...
A good deal of flavors all circling around each other - black cherry syrup, ripe plum, dark cassis, really ripe black raspberry, milk chocolate, wood, and some spice. Delivery-wise, it kinda tasted like a bunch of people in a focus group that were all yelling at each other. If palates could hear, this wine seemed rather noisy. I was hoping that since the 2013 had greater helpings of Beckstoffer fruit injected into it, the fruit flavors would find their ways into a more sophisticated arena at some point. Again...not yet.
After three hours of air, this developed an overly plum-ridden aftertaste that it could not shed. One comment inquired, "Is it supposed to taste this ripe and plummy?" The proper answer should be, "Uh...no."
Here's hoping this comes together. I've been holding on to a number of my 2013s, as some of them have also come across unresolved still. This Bard seemed like a different kind of unresolved though...one of over-ripeness and flabby substitute teacher tricep. Hopefully it gets where it needs to get. Hats off to the flavor hounds who are digging this wine right now. Nearly 3 years ago, I thought the potential was totally there with this wine. Now...I'm nervous the frame is being out-paced by the ripe fruit. I love me some meat, but ya gots ta have bones too my friends. With any luck, some additional time in bottle will prove me totally wrong. Let's see how patient and tolerant I am....
...Holding for another.......year...??
Oh, and let's just call this out if we can... RP100 points for the 2013 Bard? The same score as the Realm Crane and Absurd that same vintage? If your sub-$100 (at the time) lesser blended wine is as "perfect" as your top shelf SVDs and BBS blend, isn't that kinda a problem? I dunno...maybe I think too much out loud... Writing rave reviews is more popular anyway. Maybe I'll try the RP Oprah method..."And YOU get 100! And YOU get 100! And YOU get 100!!!"...[and the crowd goes wild!!]...
30min decant and then slow-ox during the eve. Intense, floral and perfumed with ripe black current fruit with a jamy, but not too sweet character. Very fine vanilla oakiness with added notes of mocca, leather and earth - but all very much in the background still.
The perfume notes sticks to the palate where you'll also find over time more and more milk choclate. Fully body with a long finish (easily 20-30sec). High complexity here as well with fruity freshness and also licorice. Stunningly weightless, just floating over the palate. Fine, velvety tannins leave no hard edges.
After 2h or so still very much floral (violets) but no longer of a distilled / perfumey type, more fresh like an actual bouquet. Also some herbal components popping up here and there.
All in all very impressive, powerful yet weightless and definitely sexy. Definitiely (even) more approachable than the 2015 I tasted recently and hence a higher score deserved (I rated the 2015 at 95). But is it already unconditional eternal love? Not yet. Towards the end started to close down a bit and lost a bit of weight behind the punch. Kick-off was an easy 98, but ended with a 96. 97 a fair score at this point, but with likely upside with a few more years of bottle age.
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This continues to be a really really nice wine. It was a phenomenal accompaniment to a New York strip steak. It has mellowed compared to 2 or 3 years ago, and I’m sure to some people it has improved, but since I love the really intense flavors that this started with, I’m going to plan to drink the rest of my bottles sooner rather than later.
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Delicious and very smooth! Not much to complain about, but seems to be starting to lose the intense fruit flavors that I loved when it was first released. I was planning to let my last few bottles age more, and I think that this will still be a fabulous wine for a few more years, but maybe I'll drink them up over the next year or two now instead.
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Got better as the evening went on but over all this needs a bit more time to come together. It clearly has the genes to be high 90's but right now seems a bit disjointed.
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Wonderful wine that still needs time in bottle. Decanted for 2 hours. Had against a 2012 Brand. Bard was just too mushy with dark blue fruit that hadn't settled down yet. However, you could see the bones of this wine evolve as we drank through it. Once fruit calms down this will be a very elegant wine
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Very nice wine. I let this slow ox for 17 hours so I could drink it the evening of Father's Day. Blueberries and cassis on the nose, full bodied dark fruit on the palate with a 20+ second finish. Parker gave it 100 and it might get there in the future. Drinking well now though. Just a great big red. Reminded me of Shafer Hillside Select. Good company !
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Decided to give this a shot after recently enjoying the 2014 Realm Farella cab and also in light of Parker's 100 rating. Purple fruit - blackberry, dark currants, and a little blueberry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth, however, I expected a little bigger/fuller fruit in consideration of Parker's rating. Nice flavors of dark berries, some spice, and a little mineral/graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. Decanted for two hours and drank over another three. Improved a little with time but drinking pretty well after the decant. A nice wine but I recently had a bottle of the 2014 Outpost True Vineyard cab which Parker also rated 100 points and I thought that bottle was a much better representation of a 100 point wine. Maybe it's in an awkward/transition phase and needs some time in consideration of other positive CT notes. Nonetheless, in my opinion this bottle was closer to the 93 rating from Galloni and the 92 rating from WS. 93% cab sauvignon and 7% petit verdot.
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Displaying a high end nose of tobacco, violets, licorice and blackberries. Excellent balance with nice freshness and acid lift. More medium than full bodied. This wine has definitely shed its baby fat and is now in what I would call the prime drinking window. The fruit and concentration have receded some, the acid is showing more prominently and there is much more of a "leanness" to the wine. The finish is 30 secs, but gets clipped a bit at the end. I like this, but felt it was better a year or two ago for my tastes. All these 2013's feel like they are in a transition phase, but this one doesn't seem to have the super concentrated and structured profile to emerge as a better wine. By comparison, I had the 2013 Memento Mori at the same time, and while the Bard is drinking a bit better now, I feel that wine is more backwards at the moment and has a ton more potential down the line. Drink soon. 94-95.
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Drank alongside the 12' Schrader CCS and 11' Bevan Tinbox, and this was the WOTN. The CCS might have been close, or someday could be the winner, but it wasn't as approachable as this Realm was. Its huge and the epitome of Napa Valley wine. Give it another few years if you can, but otherwise just open an hour or two prior to drinking.
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After a somewhat lackluster performance from a recent tasting of the 2015 Bard, it was surely encouraging to experience this 2013 step up with a pleasurable delivery of black core fruit, clove, scorched earth, black asphalt, dark cassis, and some tobacco and cedar.
A near-seamless attack, with the back end just a little short due to some sediment clipping the finish. Nothing too distracting, as the overall push of giving flavors nicely washed over the palate. A feeling of unctuousness and fairly deep viscosity made for an otherwise uniform and complete experience with this wine, thanks to its especially solid mid.
Overall, an agreeable wine with medium levels of concentration that over-delivers in the flavor department. Complexity was moderate, but missing some of the impact found in Realm's SVDs.
94-96 points this go-around. I'm not sure time will necessarily improve this wine. In fact, I will plan on drinking my stash over the next year or two. Drink now through 2019.
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Went for this with the current offering open. Decanted 3 hours and then drank over an evening. Outstanding. Dark fruit profile shows black plum, brambleberry, blackberry, and a nice menthol and pre-dried tobacco note that keep this interesting and not all fruit. Rich mouthfeel shows powdery tannins and incredible length. A touch of heat on the finish detracts, but it is overpowered by the tannins. Really a great drink.
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Had last Saturday night along with 1983 Chateau Margaux, 2009 Hundred Acre Ark, 2013 Paul Hobbs and 2009 Chateau Vieux Certan. This was my WOTN. It's all about balance and fineness. Great texture, nose and finish. Highly recommend.
Spreitzer, Aubry, Realm, clos du Marquis (Front Patio): My wife said she wanted something red and really good. This worked. An RP100 pointer on a Wednesday night? Why not. Purple in color. The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, slight toast and spice. On the palate, this is close to seamless. Pop and pour. We discussed whether this was too young or not. It just depends on how you like them. I think it improves with age, but honestly, i doubt it changes much over the next five year at least. Just a delicious bottle of wine. Jane was happy.
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As I patiently await for my 2014s to settle down, I popped and poured a 2013 Bard and boy, what a wine! This wine is ready to go and did not need a decant, IMHO. Beautiful color of purple with hints of red, and the smell was incredible.
More notes to come - not finished with this gem.
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BYO - US wines (Bistro Boheme): Sweet compact black currant fruit with a touch of vanilla and freshly ground black pepper. It is able to retains its balance with a lovely acidity and it keeps improving in the glass. Loved the balance and freshness! A great wine.
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4 hours decant. Very dark red and lots of life yet beautifully integrated. Full bodied and fruit in the middle but the fruit is not overpowering and holds back
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Deep and dark ruby red and purplish hues. Thick and dark nose, a bit of bark with tons of dark berries, cinnamon, even a bit of herbs and baking spices. Heavy tannins (8/10) and full bodied. Can feel a touch of heat, with layers of cinnamon, vanilla, spiced herbs and black berries. Absolutely delicious. Extracted and voluptuous. Excellent work. This will only get better over time, will wait another 5 years at least for the last bottle. Drink till 2030.
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Luxurious and well balanced, this is very fruit forward without becoming sweet or sappy. Blueberry pie, cassis and dark fruit on the palate, with a very long finish and soft tannins. This can probably develop a bit more, but is beautiful to drink now. Drank over two hours in a decanter, and there was little change from the first sip to the last.
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Wow, hard to describe, what a wonderful wine. Very nice with huge vanilla and full mouth feel. Loved this bottle and would definitely obtain more. Can definitely hold for better development.
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LOTS of density and coconut oil to the nose. Follows to the palate. Fruit is dark red and black, but not overtly blackberry. There's a lot to like in this bottle of vino.
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PnP and my third time with this wine. No formal notes. Consistent with my previous thoughts, but this time I am bumping it a point as it seems to be getting more well rounded. Such a gorgeous, concentrated, layered and plush wine. A lot of fun, and probably the best QPR in the galaxy (100pt RP wine for $95...good luck finding that anywhere else). I think this wine is on a nice evolutionary track and will continue to improve. Hard to keep my hands off it, but thankfully tonight someone else provided the bottle. 96+
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Realm (Saint Helena): Tasted with Juan and Scott at Realm alongside the 2013 Farella, 2013 BTK, and a 2013 Bevan Wildfoote (just for contrast).
This wine had been open for approximately three hours before consumption. I have to admit that I am in love with this wine. It is a thick, rich wine; it is full of deep, black fruit characteristics that totally envelop the palate. As others have accurately noted, the Bard needs some additional time to fully express itself, but my experience with this wine showed that after just a few hours of air, it was simply phenomenal. Could it use a few years of bottle integration to fully come to fruition? Without a doubt. But spending some time with this wine (which I revisited twice just to make sure I wasn't being overly optimistic) was a hedonistic pleasure for sure.
Notes of blackberry, blueberry, black currant, dark chocolate/cacao, mocha, coffee bean, black licorice, and some baking spice. An opulent "pow" sip after sip. I definitely see the 100 point potential here...eventually. The Bard and the Farella were the most accessible of the three 2013 Realms, with the BTK still holding a lot back. The BTK might ultimately have a higher ceiling than the Bard, but the Bard was the standout at this particular moment.
One of the best 2013 Napa reds I've had so far. Highly recommended. Ideally, hold for at least a year or two. However, with a few hours in the decanter, this wine is singing pretty darn well. I'll revisit in mid/late 2017. 98+ points for me.
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While the oak is very much at the forefront, this is wonderfully balanced. An exquisite effort. Lush, supple, rich without being heavy with a cornucopia of flavors, all supported by layers of complexity. Brilliant!
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A beautiful wine and a pleasure even this young. Dense and aggressively fruit forward, but still with plenty of complexity and layers on the nose and palate. Probably the best Realm I've tasted since the 2009 Beckstoffer To Kalon. I will hold my remaining two bottles for a couple more years (unless I can get my hands on more!).
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This one is tough to rate..Parker rated it 100 points in the 12/15 issue of WA, but I think he is scoring it on what he expects it to be in a few years, not in terms of drinking it right now. I also see that prior reviews on Cellartracker were able to decant it for a few hours. Having brought this to a restaurant, I was only able to decant it for about 30 minutes. Still this is a great wine, I just don't think under the conditions it is a PERFECT wine.
I mostly agree with Loren Sonkin's review. Normally, if I was drinking a CA Cab this young, I would expect a teeth staining purple color and overwhelming notes of vanilla, oak and spice. But this wine really was giving us a great drinking experience. No hard edges, lots of fruit, but no one note dominated. I think in a few years this will deserve an even higher score. What its missing (to get the higher score from me) is the secondary flavors of a wine that has has a chance to sit in the bottle for a few years. As a comparison, our other bottle was a 2006 Harlan. The Bard stood up very well to it, but you could see that there was so much more going on in the 2006 bottle. I am looking forward to seeing how the Bard evolves.
I don't plan on opening my next bottle for another 2 years.
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Had this again -- similar notes, and also mostly agree with Loren Sonkin review. 9hr slow ox. This is a BIG, RICH, and MASSIVE wine. It really is a bottomless pitt of depth. It is almost black in color and the notes of plum, blueberry and blackberry are most present. It is a wine that completely takes over your pallet. The finish is long and impressive, but has a significant development cycle ahead. There is some serious integration that needs to happen in bottle. The tannins are very present, and will likely resolve over a few years. Terrific wine, but not a 100pt wine at this point IMO. I'd suggest holding a few years before opening.
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Slow ox for 6 hours. Was still pretty tight, so poured into decanter for a couple of hours.
Also had a 2012 Pott Actaeon open, which was the preferred wine after 6 hours of air. So we drank the Pott with dinner, and came back to this later.
This is deep and layered. Lots of dark red fruit, some black fruit, certainly baking spices and mocha. Finish is long, but also a bit monotone.
Was surprised to learn the next day that this was a WA 100 point wine. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But I would still choose the Pott over this, as well as several others (2013 Carters, Becklyn and R-M Panek) that I have had in the past week or so over this. Will hold remaining bottles for a bit.
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New Years Eve (Donnhoff, Realm and Saxum) (Our home): I decanted this at noon. Around 2:00, I noticed that Parker scored this 100 points. Oh well, another poor Investment decision. ;-) We drank it at 6. Probably not enough air and we saved some for today. Purple in color. The nose is deep with plums, blueberries, graphite and coffee grounds. On the palate, great texture. This is a massive wine at this point but I would not call it a fruit bomb. Black raspberries and plums. Firm tannins but not unmanageable. Depth like a bottomless pit. Long finish. Was it a 100 for me? No, but there is certainly the potential for that. Glad to have more in the cellar, but all in all, made for a great New Years Eve experience.
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Had at Christmas get together so no formal notes. Slow ox for two hours and decant for another two. Dark blue fruit the entire way, with serious rich texture and plush mouthfeel. Absolutely crushed the '12 Tignanello Super Tuscan I opened alongside. I like to compare this to the '13 Bevan Ontogeny, since they are the same price and both blends from highly acclaimed producers. Right now, the Realm is drinking slightly better, but they are remarkably similar. Both are outstanding values when compared against $150 plus cabs from Napa. This wine will be significantly better with a couple years in the bottle. Hard to beat for the price. I'd put it up against most notable single vineyard cabs from the region.
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Pronounced nose of sweet spices, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, smoke, toast, oak, black currant, plum, black cherry, very youthful. Palate is dry, full and pronounced, high tannins, high acid, spice - clove, cinnamon, vanilla, baking spices, licorice. Graphite, pencil, woody. Blackcurrant, plum, cherry, mineral/rocks. Chocolate Coffee. Excellent wine, very youthful, checking back in 5-7 years would be good.
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Wow! Thick, lush, smooth, flavorful. Too complicated for me to analyze very well, but included cherry, chocolate, vanilla, earthy, leather. And so smooth for a young Cab. Rich mouth feel, almost chewy, and with so many flavors - it almost seemed like you could make a meal just of this wine!
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Opened in the AM and decanted a few hours in the PM. Not the fruit bomb I anticipated but still very Napa. Layers of black/blue fruit, cassis, chocolate, herbs and a hefty amount earthy spice. Certainly tannic but drinking well today.
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A beautiful wine that reminds you why you drink wine in the first place. Inky red in color, full in body, welcoming nose of chocolate and blackberry. Waves of taste - cherry, milk chocolate, sage, licorice, cedar, vanilla - with a silky and mouth-coating finish that goes on and on. 14.6% alcohol. Be sure to decant for an hour or two if you drink now. Blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. One of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted, this is everything you could ask for from a modern Napa Cabernet: intense, plush, layered, smooth, balanced; whatever the adjective, this is magnificent.
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2013 Realm Cellars The Bard Delivered at 2:30, let it rest, double decanted at 5:00. Very dark, no sediment, haha. Nose is cherry cream with a faint hint of wet straw. First sip, Yumm, fruity, finish ends in a tar and leather mix. Tannin's remind you to lick your lips, than take a bow.
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1/5/2024 - jjhsom Likes this wine: 98 Points
Still at the top of its game after 30-60 mins in decanter or 1-2 hours breathing in bottle. I wasn’t sure when I first opened it-seemed tannic but less impressive. But once it opened up, as good as the last 2 bottles I drank in 2022 & 2023. It is my 5th bottle out of a case I bought-great juice!! I’m not sure it will improve, but it still has a long life at this level.
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12/25/2023 - t_moderne wrote: 91 Points
Opened for Christmas dinner; let it sit for about 2 hours before sharing. Followed for about 2 hours.
Dark purple color. Nose shows dark fruits and a bit of VA. That blows off.
Powerful and rich, perhaps a bit too much.
Concentrated and with depth. Layers of flavor.
Showing a little bit of heat.
A powerhous eof a wine that can improve with more age,
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11/16/2023 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 94 Points
Deep ruby red. Dark and fruity nose with dark chocolate with baking spices and blueberries. Medium bodied and very well integrated with medium tannins (6.5/10). Similar notes on the palate with dark fruit and spices. Definitely a little over its peak. If you have it drink it. Medium to medium plus finish. Drink now.
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11/16/2023 - cab blends wrote: 93 Points
Not blind.
Fruity nose and initial attack.
I think this is starting to decline. It was unfair to compare tonight to 3 wines all 96+.
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7/9/2023 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Double decanted for 2 hrs, deep ruby, black cherries with a touch of vanilla on both nose & palate (the oak has almost fully integrated), med/firm tannins (typical 13), long finish; outstanding, drink or preferably hold (I will wait at least another year for my last bottle)
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6/27/2023 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 98 Points
Amazing! Having this as a pop and pour out of a magnum reminded me of this wine’s earlier days from the 750 ml bottles. Powerful, rich, smooth, flavorful, with a long finish. A sad day at the end, however, since this is my last bottle of this…
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6/25/2023 - Rramey Likes this wine: 98 Points
Silky smooth. Like velvet.
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3/12/2023 - D'Yquembe Mutumbo wrote: 95 Points
This is a wonderful mature New World wine, full of black and red berries, nutmeg, oak, dark chocolate and licorice. I could drink this all day and would score it a point or two hire if not for the slight lingering heat on the palate. At 13.5% ABV this wine would've been electric.
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9/3/2022 - Geaux Tigers wrote:
PnP and drank over 2 hrs.
On open this was earthy with topsoil, drying tannins, macerated blackberries and powdered cocoa. This lasted for 30 min. Shifted to our other wine, a ‘14 Colgin Tychson Hill, before reverting.
40 min after opening, a completely different wine, and I’m not sure I’m happy about it. Gone were the secondary/tertiary notes and out popped a stripper from a large fake birthday cake. Blueberry, blackberry, hint of crème pie, big and boisterous. Frankly almost too much after the Colgin.
I’m not scoring this because I’m still processing how this wine behaved. Both sides of the transformation were equally delicious but the shift in palate was frankly confounding! I’m angry and ecstatic at the same time and then I’m ecstatic and angry on the other side. Early on I would have said drink up, past prime, 40 min later I would’ve said let it rest. My brain is garbled. . .
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8/7/2022 - jtwortham Likes this wine: 98 Points
Drinking brilliantly right now
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6/4/2022 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 93 Points
Typical high end extracted Napa cab. Smooth, soft, very berry oriented. While this is a very good wine, it is not my taste. Should have sold.
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4/9/2022 - Andydna Likes this wine: 94 Points
Delicious chocolate notes. I didn’t find it too big. The finish was shorter than I expected.
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2/24/2022 - hvaleiras Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opened and allowed to breathe for about 30 minutes. Excellent, blackberries, smooth finish. A wonderful bottle
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12/24/2021 - Odedis.Wine.reviews Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dark ruby in color with a short purple rim.
Strong fruity nose of blackberries, sweet plums, raisins, dried figs, tobacco, spices, cedar, vanilla, leather, earth, chocolates, coffee, alcohol and peppercorn.
Full bodied, bold and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry and extremely fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, cooked cherries, figs, raisins, vanilla, cedar, licorice, cola, chocolates, mocha, coffee, peppercorn, earth and tobacco,
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This is a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Very tasty, rich and extracted, with nice complexity and a great mouthfeel.
Good right out of the bottle and better as it opens up. I gave it couple of hours to open up properly.
Still young and will age nicely in the next 10 to 20 years.
Robert Parker 100 points.
This 2013 vintage is drinking so nicely now. Very yummy, but might be too sweet for some.
A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% Petit Verdot.
14.6% alcohol by volume.
96 points.
$350.
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10/24/2021 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
No notes taken. I’ve had this twice before (rated 96 pts) and it again showed great. There is a lot of depth and intensity which was a bit too overwhelming after drinking Pinot Noir before, hence the lower rating. Super expressive on the nose and palate with lots of ripe dark fruit, not too jammy or overripe but quite ripe, loads and loads of spices, reminiscent of Australian Shiraz, some minty notes and a touch of chocolate. Superb definition from A to Z. A wall of fine tannins, high but well integrated acidity, creamy texture and good length. This will still have to shed some baby fat but can become a really great wine. The alcohol is not noticeable and the wine is quite harmonious. All in all, a great wine.
Decanting: Not decanted, good from the go. No extensive decanting needed.
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10/18/2021 - ScottPreston wrote: 99 Points
This has improved since i last tried it. Nearly perfect. Should hold fine for at least another 3-5 years, but why wait.
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8/29/2021 - DrZett wrote: 93 Points
Deep ruby colored. Fat and powerful nose with ripe dark and red berries. Lots of ripe cassis, cherry jam, dark plum and some soft vanilla on the palate - alcohol is a little too hot. Full bodied with a medium acidity. Velvety tannins, not fully integrated yet. Amazing complexity and concentration - dozens of fruit layers. Very long and savory finish with lots of dark berries.
This is powerful wine which needs more time to soften out a little bit but I’m not sure if this will ever happen. I can see why Parker rated it 100 points - but for my palate it’s way too concentrated and fat. I’ll keep my other bottles for another decade.
Around 11,400 bottles of this vintage were produced. (IG)
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8/17/2021 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep blueberry color, good mouthfeel, a tad light on the palate and a short dry finish. Not my style. Sell
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7/12/2021 - SlimShaney Likes this wine: 95 Points
A rich wonderful offering, hard to fault but no epic wow.
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5/31/2021 - greg@newsomehh.com Likes this wine: 94 Points
One of my fav wines, Just love it
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5/23/2021 - corkcork wrote: 100 Points
Wow,amazing! This has certainly come into it’s own.
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4/30/2021 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 96 Points
Opened in the bottle for a few hours. Initially a cassis bomb but really opened up nicely. Ultra ripe red fruit, cassis, vanilla, and mineral. Structured but not tannic and ready to go. Started to fall apart and turn syrupy day two. I’d say drink these now. Purchased at release from Realm.
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4/17/2021 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 98 Points
A gorgeous wine, this is aging very gracefully. While it no longer has the excitement and intensity of flavors that it exhibited in its early years, it is still incredibly smooth and rich, with complex flavors that are beyond my ability to describe, but there is still plenty of red and black fruit along with some chocolate. I just very much enjoyed this. Had as a pop and pour, but waiting in each glass awhile before we started it. It has a small amount of sediment, so pour the last bit carefully. Very disappointed that I now only have my magnum left.
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4/3/2021 - Cow Town Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wow. Bigger than any Bard I have had, and maybe not it a good way. Drank half on day one, put the other half in a half bottle and recorded for day two. Day one: some prune and raisin notes, but that blew off and by the last glass I was enjoying the dark fruit, mocha, and modern take on a cab blend. Day two: prune and raisiny notes came back, with heat. Not bad, just disjointed. Have one left, and will wait another five years.
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11/7/2020 - beau11 wrote: 97 Points
Double decanted and drank over 4 hours. This bottle was great from pop and is ready to go from the start but tannin softened thru the night. Dark fruits with lots of blueberry and cassis. Silky mouthfeel and soft tannin. Drink now but should go for another 10 yrsd
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11/1/2020 - t_moderne wrote: 93 Points
Opened, decanted and served aboot 1 hour later. Enjoyed with food (traditional Thanksgiving turkey and associated side dishes, in case you were wondering).
Dark purple color.
Nose offers a little VA but that blows off while swirling in the glass. (And this was even after decanting).
rich plum and black cherries on the intro with a tangy blackberry note. Good acidity to help carry the richness of the wine.
Delicious.
This is a powerhouse wine with layers of flavors going on. Will likely improve with anpther few years of cellar time.
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9/20/2020 - GaryHOhio wrote: 99 Points
Opened, tasted to expose shoulder, audouzed for 8 hours then decanted for 2 hours and back into the bottle to take to the restaurant. Great nose of black fruit, luscious fruit on the palate, very smooth, long finish. Well integrated, no hard edges here. Great with a Prime CAB strip steak. Drank with 2012 Opus One, 2010 Chateau Brane-Cantenac and 1989 Chateau Lynch-Bages. The Bard was the WOTN. Opus One needed more air but was still excellent (96). Lynch (94) and Brane (92) showed well.
I gave The Bard a 99 because I believe it could improve with more age but just superb now as well.
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9/8/2020 - fdaner wrote: 97 Points
Wine is very dark with a huge nose of black fruit, dark chocolate and cassis. It is deeply layered with similar notes with a refined silky mouthfeel. This is pure Napa in style but retains energy,freshness and balance. Fantastic on it's own and even better matched with a bone in rib eye. I don't drink wines like this as much as I used to but glad to have a few more. This is in a sweet spot now and would not hesitate to open. Decant or filter for sediment.
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7/24/2020 - greg@newsomehh.com Likes this wine: 93 Points
enjoyed after GO Golf, delightful
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7/4/2020 - Tonythefish Likes this wine: 97 Points
See prior notes - ridiculously good and has rounded into full potential. Dark fruits still there on front end, and finish lasted almost 50 seconds. Graphite, pencil lead, medium spice, tar and rose notes. Tannins have mellowed, and opened beautifully in decanter
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5/8/2020 - Rktekt3 wrote: 100 Points
It is really sad that Realm refuses to reproduce this wine. The 2013 Bard is truly a 100 pt wine. While the 2014, 2015, 2016 and of course 2017 are very good wines, they are shadows of the 2013. Maybe in time Realm will give in and add the Beckstoffer fruit into the Bard once again.
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1/26/2020 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 97 Points
Ahhh this brings me back to the days when Bard was the sh*t. Opened in the bottle for 4-5 hours and singing from the start. Loads of fine grained sediment but otherwise texturally mid to full bodied. Ripe yet still elegant and fresh. Sweet plums, blueberry, spearmint, cassis espresso, and milk chocolate. Plenty of time left but silky smooth with A nice intensity now.
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1/25/2020 - beau11 wrote: 98 Points
Delicious wine. Drank over 2 days. Day 1 pnp rich dark fruit, blackberry, cherry, chocolate...compared to 13 farella much sweeter and voluptuous. Farella less fruit, more broody, more secondary characteristics ie, leather, forest floor. Forgot to cork day 1. So bottle was uncorked all night. Day 2 was even better. Tannins softened but fruit was still amazing. Just a great wine
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1/19/2020 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
Informal dinner, no detailed notes. My second encounter with this and it again delivered. Intense, complex, highly precise. An intriguing, full power sexy Napa nose in the highest spheres. Highly complex and well balanced on the palate but not as weightless as the best Napas. But then again, the 2013s just need a lot more time with all that stuffing and power the vintage has. Another thing that is quite mesmerizing is the very intense spiciness. All in all, this is a great wine which was singing after 90 minutes in the decanter. The high praises of the critics and on CT definitely seem deserved. 96+ for now with upside to the elusive 98+ category once mature.
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10/26/2019 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 98 Points
Dark and concentrated like all ‘13s. Oak and tannins have integrated and this is ready for business. Dark fruited profile with a long finish, black and red fruit mostly. 90 min later—red cherry, black cherry, plum, blackberry liquer, chocolate covered cherries, milk chocolate, faint mineral notes, some perfume notes pop up on the nose, but a warmth note also appears. Not sure how this develops over several hrs because it went too quick. This isn’t quite 100 WA pts.....yet, but it’s getting close
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10/24/2019 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Recent wine tasting. Flight included 2013 Pott Kaliholmabok. Realm was bigger and bolder. The wine was less sweet than the Pott wine which was softer in style. It is hard to fault either wine and liking one better depends on your style. In comparison if you like more concentration then the Realm wins out. The group of six preferred after a three hour slow ox the Pott for it's smooth finish. My take on day three is the Realm is gorgeous and because my liking is for more concentrated fruit it wins out at this time. I just preferred less sweetness on day three.
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10/4/2019 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 96 Points
From memory after a 1 hour double decant, deep ruby. black cherry & chocolate, med tannins, long finish; delicious, drink or preferably hold for another year or 3
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10/4/2019 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Thanks to Joel for bringing this great wine from a magnificent vintage. IMO the best days are still ahead, but last night it showed lots of fruits and minerals evolving throughout the night. It’s bold, nice finish and will go great with a fatty steak!
If I put my hands in one of this bottles I wouldn’t touch it until at least 2025...
93++ (hold).
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9/29/2019 - msuwine wrote: 93 Points
This reminds me a bit of Michael Jordan during the Wizards era: same guy and same number, but less precision, energy, and power. This wine, too, seems like a shadow of its old self, a decline that is especially pronounced in the four years since I rated it last (10/15 - 98 points). This still has incredible fruit, but the mouthfeel has deadened a bit, driven primarily by its lack of acidity. This is still a flavorful (and good) wine, but it's no longer an energetic (or great) one.
Dark purple, almost inky black in color; thick in body (think half and half); nose of cocoa beans, stewed blueberry, charred wood, and rosemary. Tastes of plum, milk chocolate, baked herbs, and pencil shavings, with a finish that coats the mouth like a milkshake (creamy, but not refreshing - almost stagnant). 14.6% alcohol. Blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. Decant two hours. 93+ at the moment.
And now onto the color commentary...
I understand my assessment of this wine coincides with the familiar Old World critique of California Cabernet: "sure, it tastes great early on, but it can’t age!" I think this critique is silly, since many Old World wines taste like crap early on and, maybe just maybe, if you store / open / decant / drink them in the right way, at the right time, with the right mindset, they will taste good... maybe, someday. Call me American, but I’ll enjoy my wine in this lifetime, thank you very much. Without apology, I loved this particular vintage of the Bard in 2015 and 2016, and I enjoyed it, albeit somewhat less, in the several times I tasted it in 2017 and 2018, while it seemed to be becoming more top-heavy and disjointed.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Bard is less impressive in 2019 than it was in 2015, and this kind of wine should have lasted longer. To call it “unresolved” would imply a future when it comes together, but I suspect the opposite is happening here: this wine is unwinding. Of course, this could be seen as a morality play: a blend made to be enjoyed in the short-term, without enough tannins or acidity, has its comeuppance ("Out out brief candle!," all that). But this mistakes the ending of the story for the whole of it. While recognizing this wine's decline, I think it's fair to appreciate that it had a certain greatness in the early going... but now it's time to batten down the hatches, and drink sooner rather than later!
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9/21/2019 - 89grange wrote: 97 Points
Great to the last drop
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9/14/2019 - seijaro Likes this wine: 95 Points
Yes, a lovely CA Cab that is full of flavor... but 100? Not with us. We don't see how a reviewer could award this a perfect score. We have had 100-point wines ('61 Beychevelle, '74 Mondavi Reserve, '74 Phelps Martha's, '82 Mouton, Leoville, and Lafite, 2005 Alban Grenache) and this doesn't come close.
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9/3/2019 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 98 Points
Candy cherry, cassis, chocolate, lively with sweet fruit from beginning through finish. Soft palate with no hard edges. Terrific with filet tonight.
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8/31/2019 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 97 Points
This remains a really nice bottle of wine. Does it blow me away like the first few bottles did 3 or 4 years ago? No - but still very flavorful and smooth. Not as intense in flavors as in its early years, and perhaps just a hint too much acidity. But there are not too many wines that I would trade this for...
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7/30/2019 - ScottPreston wrote: 96 Points
Outstanding. Decadent fruit, good length. Although this seemed to already be in a good spot, I think there probably is little future development and would recommend drinking this over the next 18 months.
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7/16/2019 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drinking well after 3 hour decant. Great for 5 years.
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3/24/2019 - DMET Likes this wine: 97 Points
every bottle is outstanding. fruity, chewy with chocolate flavor. love it every time!
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2/7/2019 - tcarter Likes this wine: 97 Points
From mag. Almost too young from large format.
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12/1/2018 - Rktekt3 wrote: 98 Points
Love it.
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10/24/2018 - Tonythefish wrote: 96 Points
See prior notes - superb and aging into great form
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10/18/2018 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
Superb bottle of wine which confirmed my impression of the Realm 2015 horizontal and Realm Absurd vertical tastings in February: Realm’s wines are defined by their fresh and sensuous structure and texture, bringing ripe Napa sexiness in a very modern and elegant form to your palate. The biggest pleasure with this bottle? The high complexity. It changed its character constantly over the three hours. Started with 96 points climbed to 97 and 98 points, last glass after 3+ hours on a 94 to 95 points level. With 10 more years and tertiary aromas this wine could indeed live up to the 100 Points from Parker.
TN: A myriad of aromas on the nose and palate, constantly changing with a core of ripe but not overripe black fruit, loads of cassis, blackberries, dark and milk chocolate, mint, eucalyptus (at times slightly medicinal), tons of violets, some tobacco, fresh forest floor, at some point oak induced vanilla. Great structural frame with the sexiness and sensuality of Dr Crane and freshness and elegance added by grapes of the mountain vineyards. Noticeable but soft and velvety tannins, enough perfectly integrated acidity to handle the intense aromas, high aromatic complexity and precision, very long and intense finish. The complete package.
Decanting: Short decant of 30 minutes but it needed another 60 in the glass to reach its peak that night. I would advise to decant it for 2 hours at least.
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10/17/2018 - csimm wrote: 93 Points
Color me the outlier...again... Maybe I need to trade in my palate for a new one...? If you're running late for work, the punchline for those holding bottles is to wait another year+. If you have time to kill, by all means, read on...
A year since my last bottle. A lot of love going around CT for the Bard. I had originally thought that the 2012 and 2013 Bards were far superior to the 2014 and 2015 versions (I probably still feel that way). However, this 2013 was missing the focus I was hoping it would've gained with some additional time in bottle. Not yet...if in fact "yet" is going to happen at some point. "Off bottle??" one might ask. Uh, sure. It was "off." But I suppose every bottle that doesn't hit one right is "off." Was it "off" in the technical "flawed" sense. No. But it was surely... off...especially when I look at the comparative heightened subjective experiences of my fellow CT-ers. It was almost enough to make me score this higher just for the sake of not posting a lesser review and personally seeming like a total jackass. Oh well, too late..... Cheers to "keeping it real" I suppose (my Achilles)... maybe I need to work more on refining my fibbing abilities...
A good deal of flavors all circling around each other - black cherry syrup, ripe plum, dark cassis, really ripe black raspberry, milk chocolate, wood, and some spice. Delivery-wise, it kinda tasted like a bunch of people in a focus group that were all yelling at each other. If palates could hear, this wine seemed rather noisy. I was hoping that since the 2013 had greater helpings of Beckstoffer fruit injected into it, the fruit flavors would find their ways into a more sophisticated arena at some point. Again...not yet.
After three hours of air, this developed an overly plum-ridden aftertaste that it could not shed. One comment inquired, "Is it supposed to taste this ripe and plummy?" The proper answer should be, "Uh...no."
Here's hoping this comes together. I've been holding on to a number of my 2013s, as some of them have also come across unresolved still. This Bard seemed like a different kind of unresolved though...one of over-ripeness and flabby substitute teacher tricep. Hopefully it gets where it needs to get. Hats off to the flavor hounds who are digging this wine right now. Nearly 3 years ago, I thought the potential was totally there with this wine. Now...I'm nervous the frame is being out-paced by the ripe fruit. I love me some meat, but ya gots ta have bones too my friends. With any luck, some additional time in bottle will prove me totally wrong. Let's see how patient and tolerant I am....
...Holding for another.......year...??
Oh, and let's just call this out if we can... RP100 points for the 2013 Bard? The same score as the Realm Crane and Absurd that same vintage? If your sub-$100 (at the time) lesser blended wine is as "perfect" as your top shelf SVDs and BBS blend, isn't that kinda a problem? I dunno...maybe I think too much out loud... Writing rave reviews is more popular anyway. Maybe I'll try the RP Oprah method..."And YOU get 100! And YOU get 100! And YOU get 100!!!"...[and the crowd goes wild!!]...
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10/17/2018 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 97 Points
30min decant and then slow-ox during the eve. Intense, floral and perfumed with ripe black current fruit with a jamy, but not too sweet character. Very fine vanilla oakiness with added notes of mocca, leather and earth - but all very much in the background still.
The perfume notes sticks to the palate where you'll also find over time more and more milk choclate. Fully body with a long finish (easily 20-30sec). High complexity here as well with fruity freshness and also licorice. Stunningly weightless, just floating over the palate. Fine, velvety tannins leave no hard edges.
After 2h or so still very much floral (violets) but no longer of a distilled / perfumey type, more fresh like an actual bouquet. Also some herbal components popping up here and there.
All in all very impressive, powerful yet weightless and definitely sexy. Definitiely (even) more approachable than the 2015 I tasted recently and hence a higher score deserved (I rated the 2015 at 95). But is it already unconditional eternal love? Not yet. Towards the end started to close down a bit and lost a bit of weight behind the punch. Kick-off was an easy 98, but ended with a 96. 97 a fair score at this point, but with likely upside with a few more years of bottle age.
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7/27/2018 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 98 Points
This continues to be a really really nice wine. It was a phenomenal accompaniment to a New York strip steak. It has mellowed compared to 2 or 3 years ago, and I’m sure to some people it has improved, but since I love the really intense flavors that this started with, I’m going to plan to drink the rest of my bottles sooner rather than later.
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7/21/2018 - Tonythefish wrote: 97 Points
See prior notes. This wine is a beast. Great color, softened tannins, plenty of fruit and 30-45 second finish. Just outstanding
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7/16/2018 - R&R Likes this wine: 97 Points
Outstanding. Really needs to open and intigrate, but already better than most with age and VERY powerful!
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7/14/2018 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 96 Points
Delicious and very smooth! Not much to complain about, but seems to be starting to lose the intense fruit flavors that I loved when it was first released. I was planning to let my last few bottles age more, and I think that this will still be a fabulous wine for a few more years, but maybe I'll drink them up over the next year or two now instead.
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7/13/2018 - Stevethebeav Likes this wine: 93 Points
Got better as the evening went on but over all this needs a bit more time to come together. It clearly has the genes to be high 90's but right now seems a bit disjointed.
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6/25/2018 - napasoutherner Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wonderful wine that still needs time in bottle. Decanted for 2 hours. Had against a 2012 Brand. Bard was just too mushy with dark blue fruit that hadn't settled down yet. However, you could see the bones of this wine evolve as we drank through it. Once fruit calms down this will be a very elegant wine
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6/17/2018 - GaryHOhio Likes this wine: 97 Points
Very nice wine. I let this slow ox for 17 hours so I could drink it the evening of Father's Day. Blueberries and cassis on the nose, full bodied dark fruit on the palate with a 20+ second finish. Parker gave it 100 and it might get there in the future. Drinking well now though. Just a great big red. Reminded me of Shafer Hillside Select. Good company !
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4/22/2018 - 89grange Likes this wine: 96 Points
Amazing
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4/14/2018 - wendyinwlv wrote: 95 Points
Delicious!! Drinking very well now. Very rich and lush.
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2/25/2018 - Badmonkey wrote: 94 Points
Decided to give this a shot after recently enjoying the 2014 Realm Farella cab and also in light of Parker's 100 rating. Purple fruit - blackberry, dark currants, and a little blueberry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth, however, I expected a little bigger/fuller fruit in consideration of Parker's rating. Nice flavors of dark berries, some spice, and a little mineral/graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. Decanted for two hours and drank over another three. Improved a little with time but drinking pretty well after the decant. A nice wine but I recently had a bottle of the 2014 Outpost True Vineyard cab which Parker also rated 100 points and I thought that bottle was a much better representation of a 100 point wine. Maybe it's in an awkward/transition phase and needs some time in consideration of other positive CT notes. Nonetheless, in my opinion this bottle was closer to the 93 rating from Galloni and the 92 rating from WS. 93% cab sauvignon and 7% petit verdot.
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2/6/2018 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Displaying a high end nose of tobacco, violets, licorice and blackberries. Excellent balance with nice freshness and acid lift. More medium than full bodied. This wine has definitely shed its baby fat and is now in what I would call the prime drinking window. The fruit and concentration have receded some, the acid is showing more prominently and there is much more of a "leanness" to the wine. The finish is 30 secs, but gets clipped a bit at the end. I like this, but felt it was better a year or two ago for my tastes. All these 2013's feel like they are in a transition phase, but this one doesn't seem to have the super concentrated and structured profile to emerge as a better wine. By comparison, I had the 2013 Memento Mori at the same time, and while the Bard is drinking a bit better now, I feel that wine is more backwards at the moment and has a ton more potential down the line. Drink soon. 94-95.
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11/16/2017 - npettit wrote: 98 Points
Drank alongside the 12' Schrader CCS and 11' Bevan Tinbox, and this was the WOTN. The CCS might have been close, or someday could be the winner, but it wasn't as approachable as this Realm was. Its huge and the epitome of Napa Valley wine. Give it another few years if you can, but otherwise just open an hour or two prior to drinking.
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10/13/2017 - csimm wrote: 96 Points
After a somewhat lackluster performance from a recent tasting of the 2015 Bard, it was surely encouraging to experience this 2013 step up with a pleasurable delivery of black core fruit, clove, scorched earth, black asphalt, dark cassis, and some tobacco and cedar.
A near-seamless attack, with the back end just a little short due to some sediment clipping the finish. Nothing too distracting, as the overall push of giving flavors nicely washed over the palate. A feeling of unctuousness and fairly deep viscosity made for an otherwise uniform and complete experience with this wine, thanks to its especially solid mid.
Overall, an agreeable wine with medium levels of concentration that over-delivers in the flavor department. Complexity was moderate, but missing some of the impact found in Realm's SVDs.
94-96 points this go-around. I'm not sure time will necessarily improve this wine. In fact, I will plan on drinking my stash over the next year or two. Drink now through 2019.
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9/10/2017 - ews3 wrote: 94 Points
Went for this with the current offering open. Decanted 3 hours and then drank over an evening. Outstanding. Dark fruit profile shows black plum, brambleberry, blackberry, and a nice menthol and pre-dried tobacco note that keep this interesting and not all fruit. Rich mouthfeel shows powdery tannins and incredible length. A touch of heat on the finish detracts, but it is overpowered by the tannins. Really a great drink.
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8/26/2017 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 100 Points
Incredibly smooth and flavorful. I wish that I could have bought up a few more cases of this!
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8/22/2017 - rashcar Likes this wine: 98 Points
Had last Saturday night along with 1983 Chateau Margaux, 2009 Hundred Acre Ark, 2013 Paul Hobbs and 2009 Chateau Vieux Certan. This was my WOTN. It's all about balance and fineness. Great texture, nose and finish. Highly recommend.
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8/19/2017 - JGA Likes this wine: 98 Points
Great wine start to finish well balanced , great texture , long finish .
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8/19/2017 - lucaslabelle wrote: 97 Points
Beautiful wine. My first realm. Opened an hour prior to consumption. Magnificent today and will continue to improve. Will try again in 2023. 97+
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7/16/2017 - Jeffkunins wrote: 97 Points
pretty much almost perfect
blackberry explosion, black tea, cacao, dust, infinite finish.
over the moon.
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6/11/2017 - Rktekt3 wrote: 100 Points
I have loved this wine from barrel. It is perfect.
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5/18/2017 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 97 Points
Spreitzer, Aubry, Realm, clos du Marquis (Front Patio): My wife said she wanted something red and really good. This worked. An RP100 pointer on a Wednesday night? Why not. Purple in color. The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, slight toast and spice. On the palate, this is close to seamless. Pop and pour. We discussed whether this was too young or not. It just depends on how you like them. I think it improves with age, but honestly, i doubt it changes much over the next five year at least. Just a delicious bottle of wine. Jane was happy.
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4/21/2017 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 100 Points
Just a fabulous wine, with an incredibly long finish. Not much to change from my previous notes.
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4/1/2017 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 97 Points
As I patiently await for my 2014s to settle down, I popped and poured a 2013 Bard and boy, what a wine! This wine is ready to go and did not need a decant, IMHO. Beautiful color of purple with hints of red, and the smell was incredible.
More notes to come - not finished with this gem.
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3/25/2017 - canan wrote: 97 Points
BYO - US wines (Bistro Boheme): Sweet compact black currant fruit with a touch of vanilla and freshly ground black pepper.
It is able to retains its balance with a lovely acidity and it keeps improving in the glass. Loved the balance and freshness! A great wine.
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3/11/2017 - cab blends wrote: 97 Points
4 hours decant. Very dark red and lots of life yet beautifully integrated. Full bodied and fruit in the middle but the fruit is not overpowering and holds back
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3/11/2017 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 98 Points
Deep and dark ruby red and purplish hues. Thick and dark nose, a bit of bark with tons of dark berries, cinnamon, even a bit of herbs and baking spices. Heavy tannins (8/10) and full bodied. Can feel a touch of heat, with layers of cinnamon, vanilla, spiced herbs and black berries. Absolutely delicious. Extracted and voluptuous. Excellent work. This will only get better over time, will wait another 5 years at least for the last bottle. Drink till 2030.
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1/22/2017 - fats1976 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Luxurious and well balanced, this is very fruit forward without becoming sweet or sappy. Blueberry pie, cassis and dark fruit on the palate, with a very long finish and soft tannins. This can probably develop a bit more, but is beautiful to drink now. Drank over two hours in a decanter, and there was little change from the first sip to the last.
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12/30/2016 - Wchatika Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wow, hard to describe, what a wonderful wine. Very nice with huge vanilla and full mouth feel. Loved this bottle and would definitely obtain more. Can definitely hold for better development.
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11/18/2016 - nzinkgraf wrote:
LOTS of density and coconut oil to the nose. Follows to the palate. Fruit is dark red and black, but not overtly blackberry. There's a lot to like in this bottle of vino.
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11/11/2016 - Tonythefish wrote: 98 Points
Thiis wine is just stupid good. The rest of this that we have should age well. Dark fruits, well rounded finish and super color show everything
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11/4/2016 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 100 Points
Not much to change from my previous note. Certainly one of the best wines that I have ever had. So smooth and so flavorful, even as a pop and pour.
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9/15/2016 - burgcamel wrote: flawed
Corked
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9/14/2016 - Hebrew Hammer wrote: 96 Points
- Brick color.
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3/18/2016 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 96 Points
PnP and my third time with this wine. No formal notes. Consistent with my previous thoughts, but this time I am bumping it a point as it seems to be getting more well rounded. Such a gorgeous, concentrated, layered and plush wine. A lot of fun, and probably the best QPR in the galaxy (100pt RP wine for $95...good luck finding that anywhere else). I think this wine is on a nice evolutionary track and will continue to improve. Hard to keep my hands off it, but thankfully tonight someone else provided the bottle. 96+
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3/5/2016 - csimm wrote: 98 Points
Realm (Saint Helena): Tasted with Juan and Scott at Realm alongside the 2013 Farella, 2013 BTK, and a 2013 Bevan Wildfoote (just for contrast).
This wine had been open for approximately three hours before consumption. I have to admit that I am in love with this wine. It is a thick, rich wine; it is full of deep, black fruit characteristics that totally envelop the palate. As others have accurately noted, the Bard needs some additional time to fully express itself, but my experience with this wine showed that after just a few hours of air, it was simply phenomenal. Could it use a few years of bottle integration to fully come to fruition? Without a doubt. But spending some time with this wine (which I revisited twice just to make sure I wasn't being overly optimistic) was a hedonistic pleasure for sure.
Notes of blackberry, blueberry, black currant, dark chocolate/cacao, mocha, coffee bean, black licorice, and some baking spice. An opulent "pow" sip after sip. I definitely see the 100 point potential here...eventually. The Bard and the Farella were the most accessible of the three 2013 Realms, with the BTK still holding a lot back. The BTK might ultimately have a higher ceiling than the Bard, but the Bard was the standout at this particular moment.
One of the best 2013 Napa reds I've had so far. Highly recommended. Ideally, hold for at least a year or two. However, with a few hours in the decanter, this wine is singing pretty darn well. I'll revisit in mid/late 2017. 98+ points for me.
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3/4/2016 - Millennial Drinkers Likes this wine: 96 Points
NFN, deep dark cherries and cassis, definitely very approachable in its youth could last maybe 12 - 15 years
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2/27/2016 - 31051 wrote: 97 Points
While the oak is very much at the forefront, this is wonderfully balanced. An exquisite effort. Lush, supple, rich without being heavy with a cornucopia of flavors, all supported by layers of complexity. Brilliant!
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1/22/2016 - jeffm_fla Likes this wine: 95 Points
A beautiful wine and a pleasure even this young. Dense and aggressively fruit forward, but still with plenty of complexity and layers on the nose and palate. Probably the best Realm I've tasted since the 2009 Beckstoffer To Kalon. I will hold my remaining two bottles for a couple more years (unless I can get my hands on more!).
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1/20/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 95 Points
This one is tough to rate..Parker rated it 100 points in the 12/15 issue of WA, but I think he is scoring it on what he expects it to be in a few years, not in terms of drinking it right now. I also see that prior reviews on Cellartracker were able to decant it for a few hours. Having brought this to a restaurant, I was only able to decant it for about 30 minutes. Still this is a great wine, I just don't think under the conditions it is a PERFECT wine.
I mostly agree with Loren Sonkin's review. Normally, if I was drinking a CA Cab this young, I would expect a teeth staining purple color and overwhelming notes of vanilla, oak and spice. But this wine really was giving us a great drinking experience. No hard edges, lots of fruit, but no one note dominated. I think in a few years this will deserve an even higher score. What its missing (to get the higher score from me) is the secondary flavors of a wine that has has a chance to sit in the bottle for a few years. As a comparison, our other bottle was a 2006 Harlan. The Bard stood up very well to it, but you could see that there was so much more going on in the 2006 bottle. I am looking forward to seeing how the Bard evolves.
I don't plan on opening my next bottle for another 2 years.
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1/17/2016 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Had this again -- similar notes, and also mostly agree with Loren Sonkin review. 9hr slow ox. This is a BIG, RICH, and MASSIVE wine. It really is a bottomless pitt of depth. It is almost black in color and the notes of plum, blueberry and blackberry are most present. It is a wine that completely takes over your pallet. The finish is long and impressive, but has a significant development cycle ahead. There is some serious integration that needs to happen in bottle. The tannins are very present, and will likely resolve over a few years. Terrific wine, but not a 100pt wine at this point IMO. I'd suggest holding a few years before opening.
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1/1/2016 - ageverett Likes this wine: 94 Points
Slow ox for 6 hours. Was still pretty tight, so poured into decanter for a couple of hours.
Also had a 2012 Pott Actaeon open, which was the preferred wine after 6 hours of air. So we drank the Pott with dinner, and came back to this later.
This is deep and layered. Lots of dark red fruit, some black fruit, certainly baking spices and mocha. Finish is long, but also a bit monotone.
Was surprised to learn the next day that this was a WA 100 point wine. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But I would still choose the Pott over this, as well as several others (2013 Carters, Becklyn and R-M Panek) that I have had in the past week or so over this. Will hold remaining bottles for a bit.
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1/1/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 97 Points
New Years Eve (Donnhoff, Realm and Saxum) (Our home): I decanted this at noon. Around 2:00, I noticed that Parker scored this 100 points. Oh well, another poor Investment decision. ;-) We drank it at 6. Probably not enough air and we saved some for today. Purple in color. The nose is deep with plums, blueberries, graphite and coffee grounds. On the palate, great texture. This is a massive wine at this point but I would not call it a fruit bomb. Black raspberries and plums. Firm tannins but not unmanageable. Depth like a bottomless pit. Long finish. Was it a 100 for me? No, but there is certainly the potential for that. Glad to have more in the cellar, but all in all, made for a great New Years Eve experience.
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12/25/2015 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Had at Christmas get together so no formal notes. Slow ox for two hours and decant for another two. Dark blue fruit the entire way, with serious rich texture and plush mouthfeel. Absolutely crushed the '12 Tignanello Super Tuscan I opened alongside. I like to compare this to the '13 Bevan Ontogeny, since they are the same price and both blends from highly acclaimed producers. Right now, the Realm is drinking slightly better, but they are remarkably similar. Both are outstanding values when compared against $150 plus cabs from Napa. This wine will be significantly better with a couple years in the bottle. Hard to beat for the price. I'd put it up against most notable single vineyard cabs from the region.
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11/28/2015 - PT insurgent wrote:
Pronounced nose of sweet spices, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, smoke, toast, oak, black currant, plum, black cherry, very youthful.
Palate is dry, full and pronounced, high tannins, high acid, spice - clove, cinnamon, vanilla, baking spices, licorice. Graphite, pencil, woody. Blackcurrant, plum, cherry, mineral/rocks. Chocolate Coffee.
Excellent wine, very youthful, checking back in 5-7 years would be good.
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11/10/2015 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wow! Thick, lush, smooth, flavorful. Too complicated for me to analyze very well, but included cherry, chocolate, vanilla, earthy, leather. And so smooth for a young Cab. Rich mouth feel, almost chewy, and with so many flavors - it almost seemed like you could make a meal just of this wine!
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10/25/2015 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 95 Points
Opened in the AM and decanted a few hours in the PM. Not the fruit bomb I anticipated but still very Napa. Layers of black/blue fruit, cassis, chocolate, herbs and a hefty amount earthy spice. Certainly tannic but drinking well today.
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10/24/2015 - msuwine Likes this wine: 98 Points
A beautiful wine that reminds you why you drink wine in the first place. Inky red in color, full in body, welcoming nose of chocolate and blackberry. Waves of taste - cherry, milk chocolate, sage, licorice, cedar, vanilla - with a silky and mouth-coating finish that goes on and on. 14.6% alcohol. Be sure to decant for an hour or two if you drink now. Blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. One of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted, this is everything you could ask for from a modern Napa Cabernet: intense, plush, layered, smooth, balanced; whatever the adjective, this is magnificent.
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10/12/2015 - shadow wrote: 97 Points
2013 Realm Cellars The Bard
Delivered at 2:30, let it rest, double decanted at 5:00.
Very dark, no sediment, haha.
Nose is cherry cream with a faint hint of wet straw.
First sip, Yumm, fruity, finish ends in a tar and leather mix.
Tannin's remind you to lick your lips, than take a bow.
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