Drank this over dinner and Top Chef Master. Zhi and his wife made a great dinner of pan fried trout, baked lamb, and heirloom tomato and mozzarella. We popped two bottles and immediately poured into the decanter. Both wines were incredibly tight and we followed it over 3-4 hours Both wines tasted significantly better at the end of the night and could use bottle time… especially the Tempest.
The 07 Realm Tempest stands so high up and over the 05 Tempest it is ridiculous and that’s on a pop and pour without time to develop.
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2005 Realm Cellars The Tempest - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/5/2009)
drank over 3 hours. Really tightly wound when first opened, needs significant airtime to unwind. A rich nose of blackberries,cocoa, and cedar. A soft palate of some medicinal herb, ripe black fruit, and a long long finish of substantial dry tannins and acid cherry with spicy pepper. The spice overwhelmed the fruit in the beginning but started to balance out. A strong amount of alcohol on the palate in the beginning that fortunately dies down after a few hours
Zhi called out petit Verdo the moment he tasted it and it dominates the palate on the initial pour with that dry tannin.
The 07 BLOWS this out of the water, the 07 is an absolute masterpiece (90 pts.)
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2005 Keever Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown - USA, California, Napa Valley, Yountville (8/5/2009)
Drank over 3 hours, didn’t change much over time. This is what you would think of as a straight forward ripe fruity napa cab. A big nose of ripe baked strawberry and plum fruit rollup with hints of five spice and a lil heat. A very fruit forward palate with tightly wound tannins that aren’t as substantial as the Realm Tempest but still very prominent. A very short finish with a strong (but short) green streak and prominent alcohol presence (88 pts.)
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