Glad to see there will be a 375ml format The Bard offered. With a very full cellar, the one place I have a shortage is 375ml bottles to enjoy when my wife is traveling or we each want just a glass some evening. Hope that makes it into my allocation!
Very impressed with my Realm experience thus far.
Signed up as a new member, received a generous introductory allocation (with an explicit and explained time limit to order), and received the wine all in less than a month. Who else does that?
The entire experience feels premium from the web interface, efficient communication, shipping, and packaging. The bottle necks even feature QR codes and holograms which I assume are for authenticity purposes.
Some wineries (won’t name names but you know them) feel quite outdated with their process in comparison.
Realm sure knows how to make new customers feel welcome!
Tempted to pop one right now but I will lay these down until the holidays and pick up a few more bottles on the new release.
So far, premium process for premium wines with premium prices. As it should be, right?
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Offer is live.
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The 375ml format is something that applaud Realm for doing. It’s nice buying a great wine that you know you can open earlier and drink easily in one sitting. I just wish more wineries did it.
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Just wish-listed a 3-pack of the 375s. Fingers crossed.
Any opinions on 2024 To Kalon at $300 vs 2023 Bard at $125?
Even the Bard Mag is cheaper which feels like a much better deal but I have yet to taste Realm’s To Kalon and maybe it’s just that good?
TLDR: Yes, its that good.
More Nuanced: Look Bard is an exceptional value at $125. Is To Kalon $175 better? That is going to certainly be up to personal taste and budget. But it is consistently one of the best Napa Cabs out there and one of my favorite To Kalon’s each year.
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I usually buy 2:1 Bard : To Kalon. The 23 To Kalon is really something special. I can’t speak for the 24 yet but it is a consistently fantastic wine
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I would go with the BTK 2024 vs 2 of the Bard plus change. The 2023 was crazy good it is one of those special wines. I imagine the 2024 will be very good as well.
Which ones? I have the ability to wish list 375ml 3 packs of Bard as well as a 2023 Estate Collection which includes Moonracer, Farella, and Houyi for $485. I’m thinking about that one as a nice sampler of the Cabs I don’t normally buy.
The Bard.
Heavenly questions must be VERY highly allocated. I have been a customer for 5 years, maybe spend on average $1,500 per year, some more, some less, and didn’t even get a wish option. But Scott did warn us on this one so no worries.
Put in my first “real allocation” order today. Went 3 Fidelios and 2 Bards. Looking forward to getting these next month even if I won’t drink them for a bit.
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As the guaranteed portion of our release winds down, I thought I would take a moment to update those who follow this thread. We are trying something new this year, which is a two-week extension of the release in a first-come, first-served model. We will go through wish granting tomorrow and Thursday, so by Friday whatever remains will be available to a broader cohort.
A brief comment on wish granting. We’ve heard from a lot of folks interested in Heavenly Questions. Sadly we aren’t going to be able to grant all the wish requests. We are doing our best to spread this around as fairly and equitably as we can. We run into the usual debates about two bottles to one person or one bottle to two people. Be patient with us! We’ve grafted over two new blocks to Cab Franc at Houyi so I’m hopeful that production of this wine can grow over time.
To Kalon Cab Franc, Dr. Crane and the half-bottle sets are next in terms of tight supply. In a way, I’m actually hoping we have at least a few bottles of these remaining after wish granting so we can make these available to a broader group. We know we will have The Bard and To Kalon Cab Sauv available.
What’s been interesting to see this year is order count is up. Release participation is higher than we expected. Yet average order size or bottle count is slightly down. People are buying a bottle less than the past, for example. With a wine like Dr. Crane, we’ve historically allocated very tightly to supply and there’s not a lot of margin for error. That’s why we couldn’t simply give everyone access to it. But with some buyers taking less, it could leave some bottles left over after wish granting (depends on final day results). Which creates the opportunity for us to see what first-come, first-served might look like.
We’ve heard a lot of feedback and we love it! Keep it coming. There’s interest in Fidelio half bottles so I think that’s something we can work on. I know at some point we need to push back the release of Beckstoffer wines, so we are offering wines that have been bottled. I realize it’s a pain point for some because the wines haven’t been reviewed, you aren’t able to taste them, we are holding your money for 7 months, etc. We haven’t figured out yet how to transition but just know I hear the feedback and it’s on our mind.
The wine world is changing and we need to evolve with it. We will be expanding hospitality options at Houyi later this year. We just wrapped up meaningful events in Tampa and Scottsdale, and we are already working on future release events in various cities. Eventually we want these releases to be more than just a time for us to sell wine. How do we turn the release into a few weeks of celebrating wine, opening older Realm bottles, connecting with members and friends, etc? That’s the spirit of what we are working on.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is our gratitude for your support. Thank you for your participation in this release! And if you’re not buying, that’s ok too. Maybe just open an older Realm bottle in your cellar and let us know what you think. Special thanks to this forum for welcoming me and giving me a chance to connect with so many of you. I love meeting people at an event and they say, “I don’t post myself on WB but I do try to read your posts.” Just happened to me in Scottsdale. Glad to know at least one person is reading my stuff! 
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Bard at $125 is one of the very best QPRs in the valley.
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Happy to see wish list granted! Have been on the Realm list for a couple releases now and decided to pull the trigger this year after having tried prior vintages in the interim.
One of the reasons why I was compelled this year was the availability of 375s and the potentially shorter time frame for cellaring that these will need, especially with the 2023 growing season in mind. @scott.becker any thoughts on how long a 375 of the Bard will need laying down contrasted with the 750s?
Happy to see my wishlist request for some Bard 375mls granted, as well. As I’m trying to reduce purchases, being able to pick up some half-bottles only feels a little like cheating.
Wish more wineries would offer these…
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Did you end up buying this 3 pack? Thinking along the same lines of getting to try a few of these as a sampler
I did not purchase any of the 375s after much debate. Just took a BTK and a couple of Dr. C’s and called it good.