Looking for some advice on which wine to choose for an at-home dinner. We are having another couple over who are not wine experts but appreciate good wines. I am planning to grill some dry-aged ribeye and have a TBD appetizer beforehand. I am set on a 2019 Realm Bard, as I opened one a month ago, and it was amazing. I believe we will need two bottles of red, so I want to open a second Realm wine. I have a few choices to consider, and I am unsure if I should have the Bard with the appetizers or have the Bard with the dinner. Here are my choices for the second bottle (grouped by year).
My initial thought was to start with the 2014 Tempest and then have the 2019 Bard with the dinner, but I am second-guessing myself. My other thought is to start with the 2019 Bard and then open a 2019 from a vineyard, which the Bard also contains, but I worry that some of these wines are a few years too early to open.
That 2014 Tempest is really good stuff, I would definitely serve it! As far as the others, I would pick 2019 over 2018. Houyi, Farella, Bard would all show well with a little bit of air.
I had a 2017 Houyi in October and it was magnificent. Haven’t had a Moonracer in a while but I remember liking it more than the Houyi from the same vintage at that time (but both were very young). Farella is always a good wine - it and the Bard are my go-to wines from Realm while the big boys (BTK, Dr C, Moonracer, Houyi) lay down for more time. I have had a few vintages of Tempest and it is a good wine, but not my style.
I think Bard and either Houyi or Moonracer would be more of a contrast than Bard - Farella, but the B-F combination will still be great and allow you to let the Houyi and Moonracer sit longer.
For me, the '18s are showing well now for my palate, and the '19s have always been showing well. I always give these wines some air. I don’t think you can go wrong with either vintage in my opinion.
Hi Jim, I would agree with others to serve 2014 The Tempest first and finish with 2019 The Bard. At ten years of age, The Tempest is showing some secondary evolution. This is also a wine that lends itself more to earlier drinking - it doesn’t have the same density or stuffing to last as long as some of the other Cabernet-driven wines in the portfolio.
There’s also a significant difference between our 2014 and 2019 wines that is worth mentioning. Though it’s only a five year age gap (and both vintages were quite strong, with 2019 being the better of the two), behind the wines there was a radical transformation taking place at Realm during this period. In 2014, we didn’t own or control any of our vineyard sources, we had to be scrappy with renting space in a custom crush facility. There are simply a handful of small compromises you have to make when you don’t control most of the variables. By 2019, we had our own winemaking facility, control over some vineyards and the capacity to be much more precise and refined in our winegrowing practices. Don’t get me wrong - I still love our 2014s because they represent a moment in time in Realm’s journey. I sometimes liken our 2012’s, 13’s, 14’s to a brash teenager, trying to prove ourselves, trying to stand out in a crowded field, etc. This was our era of emphasizing richness and power above all else. By 2019, we were a bit more established, comfortable in our own skin (or wines), thinking longer term…and I think it translates into wines with more elegance and freshness. The 2019’s are definitely a step up in terms of quality. You may not necessarily taste all of that in the bottle as you enjoy those two wines, but I hope the context is somehow helpful to you in understanding the ongoing evolution of our wines.
Thanks as always for your support. Fun to share this journey with you and so many others on this board. And in Realm’s case, it quite literally has been and continues to be a journey. As we prepare to bottle the 2022 vintage, I still believe our best wines and best days are still ahead!
I appreciate the responses and perspectives. Tomorrow (Sunday), I will start with the 2014 Tempest and then have the 2019 Bard with dinner. I will let you know how it turned out.
It was informative to learn about the differences between the 2014 and the current vintages, as it validated my perception that the Bard is significantly better in 2019 than in 2014 (according to my preferences). 2019 seems more balanced, whereas 2014 was slightly too ripe for my liking.
The real challenge will be my wife, who has a superior palate than I. She didn’t enjoy the 2014 Bard much, so I will be interested if she does that “reach for the bottle and refill her glass,” which happens when she really loves a bottle of wine.
Oops, there was an inventory error, and I no longer have a 2014 Tempest. I am going to open a 2014 Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon instead. I will decant and serve it with dinner and start with the 2019 Bard unless convinced otherwise.
Dinner was a great night. The wines were excellent, and though my wife did not “grab the bottle,” she kept emptying her glass at a dizzying rate.
The 2019 Bard tasted exactly how I remembered it. We popped and poured it, sat outside, and drank it with simple cheese and crackers. The wine was so easy to drink that the bottle did not last very long. I don’t think I will meet resistance to ordering new releases since it is a beautiful wine at a price we can handle.
With dinner, we moved on to the 7-hour decanted 2014 Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon cabernet. I snuck a sip while the others were polishing off the Bard, and my immediate impression was a rich Napa cabernet that reminded me a lot of the many Lewelling Wight Vineyard cabernets I have had over the years (e.g., 2008-2010s). I used to love that richness, but as I got older, my tastes changed to favor more restrained wines, so while I find it excellent, I preferred the Bard. I stopped buying Lewelling after the 2013 vintage).
My guests and wife enjoyed the To Kalon, and that bottle did not last very long either, but I did not hear anyone say that it was better than the Bard, so I am more likely to get more Bard than to add To Kalon to my future purchases.
I have one last 2014 To Kalon, which I will hold for another ten years to see how it changes. I also have two 2014 Dr. Crane cabernets, which I have never tried, so that will need to be a future dinner showcase wine.
Thanks for all your replies. One thing to note is I did not initially consider opening a To Kalon since they have increased in price to the point that I tend to talk myself out of opening them. I am glad I did since I bought the wine to drink it, not think about drinking it.
