Realm Wine at Flickinger Wines

Qty	Wine	Subtotal

0	Order Subtotal	$0.00

Producer

Vint.

Wine

Price

Qty

Order

USA Red

Realm

2019

Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vyd. Cabernet Sauvignon

$550

JD 100 (12/2021): Pure perfection in a glass, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Dr. Crane Vineyard is all varietal and comes from this remarkable site just outside St. Helena. A wine that offers incredible richness and depth while staying flawlessly balanced and weightless, it offers up a kaleidoscope-like array of blackcurrants, cassis, tobacco leaf, wildflowers, and scorched earth. As seamless and silky as they come, it has perfect tannins, that rare mix of power and elegance, and a monster of a finish. It doesn’t get any better in this reviewer’s opinion.

2019

Beckstoffer Bourn Vyd. Cabernet Sauvignon

$395

JD 97 (12/2021): The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Bourne Vineyard checks in as 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petite Sirah, which is a blend you don’t see very often, and this cuvée has shifted to be more Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated in recent vintages. Lots of ripe dark berry fruits, leafy herbs, tobacco, and earthy nuances define the nose, and it’s more up-front and textured on the palate, with velvety tannins and an undeniably delicious, mouth-filling style. The Petite Sirah rounds out the Cabernet here, yet it still has beautiful structure, incredible balance, and a finish that makes you salivate. Drink it any time over the coming 20 years or so.

2013

Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vyd. Cabernet Sauvignon

$339

JS 100 (9/2016): This is extraordinary on the nose with cold stones, minerals, wet earth and fresh spices. Full body, incredible backbone of tannins, and great length. It really lasts for minutes. When you taste it, it brings you down to the root and soul of the wine. Extraordinary. This is what To Kalon is supposed to taste like. Pure cabernet sauvignon. 450 cases.

WA 98+ (12/2015): The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and again aged in 100% new oak. The production is slightly higher than the Dr. Crane at 500 cases. This opaque colored wine offers up blueberry liqueur, crème de cassis, coffee bean, roasted meats, and a floral note. It is rich, powerful, dense and primordial, but wow, is it spectacular! Produced from clones 4 and 337 of Cabernet, this is another 30-year effort and a great classic.

WS 94 (11/2016): A bold, rich, layered expression of cedary oak—shaded Cabernet, with powerful loamy earth, dark berry and spice notes that are deftly balanced but a long way from full maturity. The finish opens to reveal tightfisted black and green olive flavors. Best from 2020 through 2033. 350 cases made.

VM 91 (10/2015): The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard is an example of where ripeness and intensity are pushed too far. There is a good amount of To-Kalon character here, but the bitter tannins suggest overextraction while the alcohol is elevated. This is a rare miss from Realm. Antonio Galloni.

2017

Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vyd. Cabernet Sauvignon

$300

JD 97 (1/2020): The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon is another head-turning wine that defies the vintage. Coming from one of the benchmark sites in all of Napa as well as the world, it sports a deep purple hue as well as awesome notes of ripe black cherries, graphite, flowery incense, and violets. While the vineyard always seems to produce some of the most opulent and extroverted wines in the vintage, this beauty also has considerable elegance, silky tannins, and a great finish. It should continue drinking brilliantly for 20-25+ years or more.

2021

Hartwell XX Proprietary Blend

$695

2017

Moonracer Proprietary Blend

$199

JD 96 (1/2020): Lastly, the 2017 Moonracer comes from the estate in Stags Leap and includes small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. With a terrific sense of minerality as well as chocolaty dark fruits, tobacco, and spring flowers, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, outstanding balance, ultra-fine tannins, and a dense, concentrated, ageworthy vibe. Give bottles a solid 4-5 years of bottle age and it’s going to drink brilliantly for 20 years or more.

2017

Moonracer Proprietary Blend

$279

2019

Moonracer Proprietary Blend

$310

JD 98 (12/2021): The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Moonracer comes from south-facing blocks on the estate in Stags Leap and is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot. The tannins here are a step up, and this beauty boasts a gorgeous nose of red and black fruits, tobacco leaf, violets, and spice. It’s a more elegant, medium to full-bodied, seamless wine, accurately described as an iron fist in a velvet glove by winemaker Benoit Touquette. The balance is spot on, and it has plenty of up-front appeal, yet it’s going to evolve gracefully for 20-25 years with no issues.

2018

The Absurd Proprietary Blend

$925

JD 100 (1/2021): As always, the 2018 Absurd is a cellar selection of what the estate thinks is the absolute best they can do in the vintage, and in this reviewer’s opinion, they succeed brilliantly. (I’ve rated four of the five vintages I’ve tasted 100 points.) The 2018 reveals a dense purple/blue color to go with a monster bouquet of blackcurrants, scorched earth/burning embers, tobacco, lead pencil shavings, chocolate, and gravelly earth. I’ve often compared this wine to a great Pessac from Bordeaux given its incredible minerality and cold fireplace-like nuances, and the 2018 has these in spades. Concentrated, full-bodied, and built like a skyscraper, it builds beautifully with time in the glass and has incredible purity, silky, polished tannins, and a dense, layered mid-palate. As with the majority of Realm’s 2018s, the cellar is going to be your friend, since this needs a good 5-7 years of bottle age, but it will be incredibly long-lived. Hats off to winemaker Benoit Touquette and the entire team at Realm for yet another magical, legendary wine.

WA 99 (10/2020): The 2018 The Absurd—the estate's über-blend of the best elements from the vintage—displays a deep garnet-purple color, offering alluring notes of baked plums, crème de cassis and boysenberries with suggestions of chocolate box, aniseed, iron ore and candied violets plus a perfumed hint of Indian spices. The full-bodied palate is an exercise in decadence, coating the mouth in black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, supported by velvety tannins and beautifully integrated freshness, finishing epically long and fragrant.

2019

The Absurd Proprietary Blend

$900

WA 100 (9/2021): This ultimate vintage expression is always a mystery blend of grape varieties and vineyard sources, representing the cream of the crop, aspiring to the extent of proprietor Scott Becker’s and winemaker Benoit Touquette’s imagination, and beyond. Deepest purple-black colored, the 2019 The Absurd captivates the mind straight away, offering a perfume so infused it requires great focus to pick out scents of blackberry preserves, juicy black plums and crème de cassis, needing some swirling to unlock the undercurrent of Indian spices, cracked black pepper, iris and chocolate mint, plus a hint of cast-iron pan. The taut, muscular, full-bodied palate is jam-packed with black fruit preserves and fragrant accents, supported by a rock-solid foundation of ripe, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing with all the generosity and shimmer that is the signature of the great 2019 vintage in Napa Valley. A breathtaking triumph! Allow it to unwind and expand over the next 5-7 years, then drink it over the following 30 years+.

VM 98 (1/2022): The 2019 The Absurd is Realm's barrel selection of top lots. Deep and fleshy, the 2019 possesses remarkable depth. Bright floral accents perk up a core of red/purplish fruit as the 2019 fleshes out in the glass, showing tons of finesse and poise. As good as the 2019 is, and it is exceptional, I don’t find it hugely better than the other wines in the range. That is not a criticism of this wine, but I think more a reflection of both how much the other Cabernets in the range have grown and the overall strength of the vintage. As always, Absurd is a highly allocated wine, but readers who miss out on it should not fret one bit, as this lineup is full of highlights. Antonio Galloni.

JD 100 (12/2021): Another perfect wine in the lineup is the 2019 The Absurd, and while I wasn’t able to get the blend or vineyard sources (they like to keep that a secret), it’s a thrilling, magical wine that tops out on my scale. More dense and concentrated than the Dr. Crane, especially on the mid-palate, it has an incredible, full-bodied, powerful style that carries ample darker cassis and blue fruits as well as scorched earth, tobacco, graphite, and violets. With a monster of a mid-palate, incredible tannins, no hard edges, and a level of purity that’s hard to describe, this needs to be forgotten for at least 4-5 years, and it should have 40-50 years of overall longevity.

2021

The Absurd Proprietary Blend

$795

2011

The Falstaff Proprietary Blend

$99

VM 91+ (11/2013): The 2011 Falstaff wraps around the palate with plum, mocha, espresso, licorice and menthol. A decidedly rich, voluptuous wine for the year, the 2011 stands out for its pure texture, immediacy and grace. There are no angular contours whatsoever in this supremely inviting Cabernet Franc-based red. Today, the 2011 is a bit tight, but it should soften with further time in bottle. In 2011, the blend is 60% Cabernet Franc (from Englehard) and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon (from Blair and Dr. Crane). Antonio Galloni.

2012

The Falstaff Proprietary Blend

$169

VM 92 (3/2022): The 2012 Falstaff is such a showy wine, as the best wines are in this vintage. Bright floral and savory notes give the 2012 gorgeous energy to play off the dark plummy fruit. The oak is maybe just a bit pronounced, but there is terrific density and tons of forward appeal. Antonio Galloni.