Well up until the 2021 vintage most critics tasted them in August/October. Then published them before most places release their wines. Jeb Dunnuck usually rushed Realm out just before release and then published them in an article later. According to my sources Realm wouldn’t allow visits so critics could taste barrel samples. So you must ask yourself why? The prices of Realm wines have risen quite rapidly over the past four years. Are they afraid of the reviews? If the reviews are not great will people not buy them or buy enough of them to justify the high prices? 
Hi Craig, we stopped tasting barrel samples with critics a decade ago so nothing new here. We just tasted the 2022’s with Lisa and we will taste with Jeb, Antonio and others in the weeks and months ahead. Sometimes schedules align to taste earlier and sometimes it’s later. I understand the timing doesn’t always line up with our release schedule so that’s something we can be more mindful of in future years.
Fair point about our price increases in recent years. While I still believe the wines deliver a sense of value within the context of estate wines or domaines in Napa Valley, ultimately of course you get to be the judge of that!
Are we afraid of the reviews? I’d like to think we’ve seen our share of highs and lows over the years. Growing up a Notre Dame fan, I always remember the old Lou Holtz quote, "You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.” I shared that quote with the team when the 2011 reviews came out. I shared that same quote again when the 2012 reviews were published. In this business, there is no shortage of things to lose sleep over…so maintaining a little perspective is important!
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Well said
I have a tasting at Moonracer in a couple of months. Very excited. Scott, how much of the Hartwell was produced this year? I couldn’t find it anywhere on the website and I’m attempting to estimate my potential wishlist damage.
Super excited for this release. Preordered the Beckstoffers in Spring. Can’t wait for those.
I’ll probably max Hartwell and Moonracer; then make a nice mix of Houyi, Tempest, and Bard.
Never been disappointed.
Hi Drew, production volumes for Hartwell XX are around 200 cases. Eventually that could increase as we are working through the permit process to expand the vineyard acreage on top of the hill. Based on orders so far, we are estimating we likely won’t be able to fulfill all the wish requests for that wine. We look forward to welcoming you to Realm Moonracer Estate!
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Had the opportunity to attend the Fall 2024 release party in Houston last night and meet @scott.becker, Joe and others from the Realm team, along with a few great people on this WB thread. An absolutely incredible event that I would recommend to anyone when Realm comes to a city near you. As for the wines, we tasted through the 2022’s along with a few back vintages (2015 Houyi, 2014 Tempest and 2014 Bard). The 2022’s were all showing incredibly well, especially considering their youth. I didn’t take any formal notes so will defer to others for their reviews, but to me, the WOTN was the 2022 Moonracer. An amazingly elegant wine; round tannins, vibrant acidity and surprisingly approachable out of the gates. The Hartwell was a very close second… the nose on this will knock your socks off. Almost didn’t want to drink it, just swirl and sniff all night.
Thanks again to Genevieve and the entire Realm team for coming to Houston and putting on such a first-class event. Excited to get these 2022’s in my cellar soon.
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Thanks for sharing your impressions, @Jeff_Corbett! Great to see you and a few others from the WB forum. These events are meaningful for us and we are truly grateful for the support and interest. In retrospect we could probably have hosted two events in Houston given the waiting list. The venue was spectacular!
Off to Chicago this week for back-to-back events at The Oakville and RPM Steak. Hope to see some WB’ers there! We will continue to organize tastings/receptions for members during future releases, rotating around to various cities over time. San Diego, Boston, DC, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas are all up for consideration.
Over time, my hope is to make the release period more than just the time we release or sell the new vintage. It could become a two-week celebration or study of sorts. An opportunity to check-in on older vintages. Perhaps a BYO event where members bring their own bottle of Realm to share as the price of admission. Thinking we could bring in other voices and palates - journalists, wine trade, other winemakers - to provide their impressions of the wines. Perhaps a partnership with a large restaurant group that would simultaneously pour Realm release wines BTG for a few weeks in a dozen or more cities. Maybe some sort of artist feature for one of the labels to provide more context and meaning behind the wine. A technical tasting with Benoit in person or Zoom (hard for him to attend fall market activities). Just some ideas at this stage.
The main point is to make these releases more engaging than just the purchase (or not) of wine. As always, open to feedback or ideas from anyone on this forum. You can also email me or call the winery with thoughts if you don’t want to share here. Thanks again for being part of this journey with us!
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I noticed several retail shops are selling 2021 Realm The Bard in 375ml. I’ve never been allocated 375ml bottles from Realm. Are these just for retail or are some people allocated 375ml formats?
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A technical tasting with Benoit would be a fantastic idea even if it is on Zoom.
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I second this idea. I have a Coravin, but sometimes there is something special about cracking a 375.
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Retail only
@Vivek_K is correct. Historically, we’ve reserved half bottles for select retail or restaurant accounts. Having written that, it’s certainly something we could consider including in future releases or offerings. I appreciate hearing the feedback and interest for these.
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@e_eddlemon are you able to post some impressions regarding the tasting at Post Oak?
Feels odd to say this but it’s criminal NOT to take the Bard at this price.
Thanks Scott for holding it flat this release. For me, still a benchmark wine for California and easily as good as wines double its price.
Goodluck with the release!
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What’s the mailing list price for Bard/Tempest?
$135/bottle, shipping included.
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And its 2 day air btw. I never regret my realm purchases
That’s great- must be one of the few wineries where the price is actually lower than at retail
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