The 2006 Realm "Dr Crane" is Awesome!

WINE TALK
1

Tasted through the 2006 Realm lineup tonight and was very impressed. Realm is moving quickly up the ladder of the best wineries in Napa. Their 07 To-Kalon is my WOTV so far and unlikely to be displaced. Their wines are ripe but balanced and even though they carry up to 15.5% alcohol on the label, are not hot in even the slightest sense. I tried all their 06’s, which had about an hour decanting, and the Dr. Crane stole the show.

2006 Realm Cellars “Dr. Crane” Cabernet Napa Valley, $105
Dense purple color. Full bodied. Earthy black cherry fruit aromas and a fantastic mouthfeel with a texture of cream. Exhibits none of 2006’s linear mouthfeel I find in most wines from the vintage. From a warm spot in Napa that appears to have ripened perfectly in this vintage. Might be the wine of the vintage.
96pts

and here are two other standouts…

2006 Realm Cellars “The Tempest” Napa Valley, $75
This is 80% Merlot from a ridiculous source in Yountville. The rest is Cab and a touch of Petit Verdot. No way will you find a better Merlot from this vintage. Medium-full body. Smooth, almost gulpable texture. Very slight cinnamon note in the nose. A real winner. I bet many people would guess this a Cab.
93pts

2006 Realm Cellars To-Kalon Cabernet Napa Valley, $115
Has the same spice kick that the other-worldly 07 has but less fruit in the nose. Still, for 06 a real winner with no linear nature. Needs about 5 years to tame itself. Excellent.
93pts

I suggest you get on their list if you have not already.

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I guess you haven’t screened this copy by your editor Jeff (Dr. Goldfinger) Nowak. [wow.gif]

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Ha!

I think he would dig em. If not, I would fly out to Arizona and kick his butt. Hear that Mr Nowak!!! [gen_fro.gif]

4

Anybody tried the Absurd yet?

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I tried the 06’s, of which there is no Absurd. I’ve never had it.

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Great insider news Roy, as always. And timely as the Realm mailer will probably be here fairly soon.

I have to set some $$ aside for Schrader, Realm and Lewelling…oh the humanity!!!

Otto

I just had to pass on The Absurd. Maybe I’ll be able to pick on up one bottle on the secondary market, like I did with The Phoenix!

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Hey roy, so we’re looking at a $15 bottle increase for the Two cabs?

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Roy & I were at the same tasting (shocking). While he was ‘tasting’ - I’m pretty sure he ‘retasted’ everything 2-3x’s, I was taking notes. Most people think my notes suck - so when reading, remember – you are getting what you paid for.

2006 Realm ‘The Tempest’ - 15.5% alc., $75/btl
Incredibly aromatic - bright, fresh cherry. Very structured (esp. for a merlot dominated wine), taut & racy. Young, but not overly tannic and a hint of heat on the finish.

2006 Realm ‘The Bard’ - 15.6% alc, $85/btl
Darker, fuller bodied (smell the cab!) aromatics with dark fruit and toasty oak, but still clean, if that makes sense. The mouthfeel was terrific (power w/o weight), good acidity, a little grippy but nothing that a little age won’t fix.

2006 Realm ‘Farella’ - 15.1% alc, $95/btl
The most complex of the wines so far. Where the Bard may have been a bit linear aromatically, this one is wide and full. My notes show flowers/roses, a little more palate weight than the Bard. Tight on the mid (the fruit was there but hiding), but wonderfully balanced and a precise finish.

2006 Realm ‘Dr. Crane’ - 15.9%, $105/btl
I’m in lock step with Roy here. This was smoky, toasty and powerful. Silky entry, soft (think crushed velvet) but not fat. Layered, plush – this was fantastic.

2006 Realm ‘To-Kalon’ - 15.?%, $105/btl
Aromatically, this wins. Rich, powerful. Rises right out of the glass, smoky and expressive. Dense, full bodied and wound tight. There was some red fruit underneath darker fruit/espresso. Complex, good fruit and structure through the finish.

All in, an outstanding job by Juan, Wendell & Mike in 2006. I like the vintage, but I don’t love it – but these are some of the very best I’ve tried.

10

Otto are you referring to the 07? The 06 Lewelling mailer was out in November.

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Charlie, I think so. Not too many people daring to up the prices on their 06’s. But if you look at what else is out there, their prices are not out of line. And compared to some wines that get certain scores from a certain critic, they are actually undervalued on a relative basis.

I know this is gonna sting, but from this point out, almost all Napa Cabs that are really excellent (and a few that are not) are gonna run $100+. This may turn more people to Syrah or Argentina, but there is no stopping it now. On eBob I remember starting a thread after Levy-McClellan came out at $300+ saying it “would change everything” and it has.

I think that Realm is seriously as good as a few cults twice the price on a relative basis. It’s a brave new world when trying to buy Cabs now. The recession is keeping prices from getting even more out of hand than they are. High end Napa Cabs were looking at being 25% higher for 2007 compared to 2005, but the recession has stopped that cold. For now. But it is only sticking a finger in the levee for a few years. I say use the wine boards to ferret out the really good Cabs and ignore the critics. If one is careful one could actually increase their bottles purchased over the next few years for the same total expenditures even as prices increase on a per bottle basis above $100.

I can think of a more than one $300+ wine you could trade out of and get 3 Realms, which are not just as good but maybe better. Or three Arkenstones. Or four wines by Aaron Pott. And more and more coming on line each year. There will be no shortage of excellence on the horizon. But the days of great $70 are over. Sucks, but true.

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The Lewelling Wight for $60 is one of the few excellent wines for under $70.00.

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Yeah i was talking to Powell over the weekend and he had the same explanation. It just saddens me to see prices go up in this economy. Probably won’t stop me from buying cause it’s pretty good… but still. Oh well!

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I don’t recall the mailer from them. Maybe I ordered and just can’t recall…I hope! [dash1.gif]

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I got a case (6 & 6) so your covered.

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The fact is that inflation is MUCH higher than reported by our government, and in the wine industry it is off the hook. Excellent corks run $1.50-2.50. Saverglass bottles run $2.50-4. Grapes of any consequence run $6500/ton, and the best run $8500-10,000+/ton. French barrels ran $1000+ last year.

This does not mean that wineries can base price on their costs. They must base it on what hey can GET for it. But it does explain why excellence at $70 is pretty much history for high-end Cabs. Honest to goodness costs are up 50% at minimum in the valley since the turn of the millennium. $100 is the new $70. And since most of the best wines are made in quantities of 1000 cases or less, even in this market, unless they completely overshoot the moon on price, they will sell.[beg.gif]

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Woahahaha, Roy is the Leve of Napa Cabs!!! [gheyfight.gif] [drinks.gif] [tease.gif]

Otto

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Hahaha!

Lemme repeat though that they still have to SELL it. The marketplace could care less what one’s costs are. This is the year where wineries are feeling out the marketplace. The wine retailers already know the score though and, imho, see the real pricing reality. Count me as one who thinks the economy still has further down to go.

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Yeah, it’s very difficult for me to imagine that the DOW could lose more than half its value in the last eighteen months or so, but that wine prices at retail and auction would not retreat at all.

Unless maybe people view high-end wine as akin to gold or silver as some sort of a safe haven for their $$$s right now.

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In case you haven’t noticed,( Earth to Roy Piper) Gold is down 10% already this week. The wine mailers keep flooding in, so the Gold safe haven comparison doesn’t work for now. You are correct Nathan. These winery "here’s my overpriced wine please buy it all "guys don’t get it. I am afraid the stark reality of future failed offering mailers is the only solution to calming the over zealous needs and demands of the Wine Wise Guys who apparently still can’t invision the word “deflation” in their World.