2014 Realm Cellars The Bard

Community Tasting Notes (159) Avg Score: 94.5 points

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  11/3/2023 - tcarter Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Bigger and more jammy than I remember from the '14 Bard. More of a fruit bomb than I expected. Still good, but super fruit forward. Hoping this was just bottle variation and next will be a bit more balanced.

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  10/3/2023 - novie1234 wrote: 95 Points

  Honestly, in a great window but needs air. Tannins are soft at open, a bit of bricking, but it’s the fruit that is restricting. It needs a full 3 hrs in my opinion to come alive and put on body. Once there it is wonderful and is a joy. Finish is exceptional.
  
  Paired with a strip and was perfect.

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  9/7/2023 - ChrisR Likes this wine:

  I was not wholly impressed when I first had this wine 2-1/2 years ago, but it was better this time. It still leads with the rich and smooth dark fruit, but the vanilla was only a ghostly hint this time, and the oak had transmuted to spiciness and a hint of smoke. There was more grip and structure with this bottle, and the finish even turned a little dry. In short, it went from a (to be honest) somewhat boring wine to what I think of as a high-quality cabernet. This was my last bottle of this vintage, but it gives me hope that my other vintages will turn to the good.

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  8/20/2023 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Cork split on opening, Durand to the rescue, not much seepage into the cork so no worries there.
  
  60 min decant and drank over 2.5 hrs. At 9 years old, this showed some expected signs of age, early signs of bricking apparent.
  
  Gone was the lushness of youth, what remained was boisterous with, dare I say, a touch of beautiful elegance. Mrs Geaux described this as ‘very textured’….
  
  Nose—perfume, dried herbs, hint of tilled earth, dried cherries, dried blueberries, hint of nutmeg
  
  Palate-dark fruit and dried black fruit (black cherry, blackberry, some blueberry), touch of chocolate, hint of tiramisu, cola, complimentary cherry liquer notes, tannins completely integrated, acid in the perfect spot, 30+ second finish with chocolate covered red cherry appearing.
  
  Sometimes you need something big, if that’s the case, move along, the ‘14 has moved into the adult phase of its existence, and I, for one, was happy to see it happen. Probably at peak drinking now, no need to wait unless you want waning fruit. If you ever wondered ‘can The Bard age 8-10 years?’ … the answer is most certainly yes. I think it can go 12 years, but my patience won’t let me find out.
  
  This bottle was, in part, an experiment. This particular bottle is my last and purposely stored since release in a dark closet at ‘Texas ambient’ temps (~75F summer / ~68 ‘whatever winter is here’). No apparent impacts and no noticeable difference over what my palate would expect had it been in the Le Cache.

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  8/15/2023 - Bryanb2002 wrote: 95 Points

  Check out the comments from Red Sox fan. He is right on. This to me is one of the better 2014 Napa cabernet based wines regardless of price. It drinks better than a lot of wines at higher price points. This is really lovely enough tannin to carry the large amounts of red and dark berry fruit present. The hint of oak really tops it off and it does it without coming across as too heavy or being a jam ball. Really nice.

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