Realm Mailing...?

Came home to find a nicely-appointed mailing from Realm complete with random prose and 3D glasses. I have not been a buyer of The Absurd, but seems like it drops on July 2.

Thoughts on the mailing…?

My 6 year old wanted to wear the glasses at his baseball game tonight. :rofl:

It seems to indicate that you can expect an allocation of The Absurd in a few weeks.

This was a really absurd mailing. Haha. Ok Im not good at jokes. But it really was strange to me. I knew it was from Realm when I opened it but then after taking a good look at the card and glasses had to do the double take on the envelope. “yup, big “R” on the envelope.” I read the “poem” and all I could get was the word absurd out of it and a date.

I do buy this wine but I don’t think this card is going to make people wait for an allocation thinking that they have to have it.

I got the card and have not been on the Absurd allocation list. If this means I am, I’m kind of excited but my credit card is very worried :wink:

I checked my mail and did not receive the mailing. So that probably means if you did then you will receive an allocation

No card for me either. I think I’ve been purchasing three years now, consistently. No worries though, Realm is top class in everything they do so if I don’t get an allocation, I certainly am understanding.

I didn’t get it either, but I barely buy any Realm, so it’s not surprising.

Got it,BUT…?

You are welcome to mine Sean…they deserve a home in your cellar!

After that cellar build, I don’t know if I can afford it! :sweat_smile:

In this style, I find myself gravitating more to the Bard and comparably priced wines (Bevan, Rivers Marie, Myriad, etc). It’s all a matter of personal willingness/ability to spend I suppose, but I find it pretty hard to justify paying 2-4x more than the Bard for a Napa cab/blend. But maybe I’m just not able to discern the differences well enough.

Hi everyone, we sent invitations to those members who are receiving a guaranteed allocation for The Absurd release on July 2. We will send out emails to everyone on the list in late June. Since this is the first time The Absurd is being released on its own, we determined who to include based simply on recent purchase of this particular wine as well as overall long-term tenure. We will create an opportunity for those members who are next in line to receive an allocation to indicate their interest in participating in The Absurd release going forward.

Glad to hear the fun comments about the invite…the ethos of The Absurd has always been both serious and playful. Serious in how we approach the wine but always with an eye toward not taking ourselves too seriously. We have a few more surprises coming with the shipment of these bottles.

Owen, I would never try to talk you out of gravitating more toward The Bard! We want that wine to punch above its weight, or over-deliver based on the price. The Absurd is a different wine and approach altogether. I suspect the differences reveal themselves more over time…at 10 or 20 or 30 years of age, I expect (hope) the density and structure and midpalate baby fat of The Absurd to outshine The Bard and other wines in our portfolio. But maybe I’ll be wrong! One of the many joys of wine is watching and tasting these bottles as they evolve through the years…sometimes as predicted and other times as a complete surprise.

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Thanks for the info Scott. Always helpful to have your insight.

Thanks Scott. Maybe I’ll get to try the Absurd someday. Not to hijack the thread, but would love to hear your thoughts on the Bard from 2013 - 2018. Any favorites, what’s drinking best now, etc.

I feel honored to get an Absurd mailer, even if I didn’t get the jist. Look forward to the opportunity to purchase. Have a 2016 resting in the cellar that was a wish request from a few years ago. Not sure when to open that lone bottle.

I’ll start with the 2012 vintage since that was the year we essentially (re)started Realm. It’s a great string of vintages for all of Napa Valley, each with their own character. Keep in mind my comments specific to Realm relate not just to the vagaries of Mother Nature but also the evolution of our business during that time. We went from renting space and little input in the vineyards in 2012 to making wine in our own facility and farming some vineyards ourselves in 2018.

2012 The Bard is holding up well but I would drink sooner than other vintages in this vertical. The wine shows the flashiness of the vintage. Perhaps it shows a touch of over ripeness by my palate’s standards of today but considering the circumstances I’m proud of how it shows. I would continue to lay down 2013 The Bard just like many wines from us and others in that vintage. 2013 was a special vintage - lots of baby fat, tannin…and yet for us the wine also shows more pedigree and finesse than 2012. I really like the coolness of 2014. The Bard from this vintage seemed more linear upon release but I think it’s come into its own. This would be a drink or hold for me. 2015 was a solar vintage in Napa Valley and The Bard showcases that richness. But we learned a lot from 2012 so I think we handled the heat much better. I like the fruit profile from this vintage but I don’t think it has the length of 2013 or 2016. 2016 The Bard is a classic…I would hold this similar to 2013 right now. We had learned so much and come so far…this was our first vintage harvesting in our own facility. Lots to like about 2016. 2017 The Bard is lighter in stature with a fruit forward nature. I like this vintage for its freshness but it’s probably an earlier drinking vintage than some others. 2018 The Bard shows the elongated nature of the harvest. There is plenty of fruit but also plenty of acidity. 2018 could turn out to be the longest-lived of these vintages so far. It still needs a little time in decanter to open up. What it may lack in expressiveness today, it makes up for in stuffing for the long haul. Lastly, you didn’t ask about 2019 but I’ll offer the following since we just bottled this vintage. 2019 The Bard is back to a juicy mid palate, reminiscent of 2016 or 2013. I expect it to be more showy upon release than 2018 and this vintage may sit up there next to 2013 and 2016 as one of the best of the decade.

Hope this offers some context. I’ll close by saying it’s just one palate’s perspective at one point in time! We are working on creating a drinking window of sorts for our wines that can be updated regularly as we revisit some of these wines. In spite of all my comments above, there’s never a bad time to pull the cork on one of these vintages. All of Napa Valley has been blessed during this past decade. Years from now we will gain some perspective and I think we will look back at the 2010’s as the greatest decade Napa Valley has had (yet).

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Feeling pretty bummed not to get the mailing, bought ‘16 and was planning to buy ‘18 but looks like I didn’t make the cut!

Jen maybe the mailer got delayed. Anyone who purchased 16 vintage of The Absurd will receive an allocation of 2018.

Thanks Scott, that’s great to know!