98pts: Realm was my revelatory Cabernet

Dear Insider,

In the summer of 2007, I sat down for dinner at Pasadenas famed Arroyo Chop House. I wanted a great Cabernet, but the only full bottles I could swing on my budget were pretty uninspiring. So I flipped to the half-bottle section, figuring I might be able to afford something truly remarkable there.

I took a chance on a half-bottle from a producer Id never heard of: Realm Cellars. And that wine changed my view of how rich, silky, and hedonistic a Napa Cabernet could be.

We just scored a tiny allocation of the 2021 Realm Cellars The Bard Napa Valleyand Im sure our Napa Cab fans dont need much of an introduction. Crafted by multi-100-point star Benoit Touquette, Realm wines go for jaw-dropping sums: Their 2021 The Absurd is fetching over $1,000 at the moment. Their other bottles go for $300+, which makes The Bard, at just $175, their most accessible red by far.

The Bards name is a nod to Shakespeare, from whom Realm takes its own moniker. The wine is a Cabernet-dominant red whose label simply says Napa Valleybut take a look at these these sources: Blair, Houyi, Beckstoffer To Kalon, Beckstoffer Bourn, Larkmead, Realm SLD Estate, Farella, Orchard, and Bettinelli Upper Range all go into this wine. Thats an all-star list of Napa Valley sites, which is why this bottle belongs in the top tier. It earned a big-time score of 97 points from The Wine Independent, the publication of former Wine Advocate editor-in-chief Lisa Perrotti-Brown.

Im thrilled to give you your first shot at Realm. Weve got just 120 bottles, and we expect them to go quickly.

Sincerely,

Pete Holland
Certified Sommelier
Wine Access Head Writer