| Score: |
98+ WA.
"The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, coming from five different blocks, and was harvested "in multiple picks, at a leisurely pace." Deep garnet-purple colored, it rolls sensuously out of the glass with decadent scents of boysenberries, black cherries, redcurrant jelly and blackcurrant pastilles with hints of bouquet garni, black soil and iron ore. Full-bodied, the taut, tightly knit black and red fruit has a firm structure of ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing very long with loads of earth and mineral nuances coming through. The team at Realm seemed to have played it ultra-cautious in 2017. In spite of all the challenges caused by the Labor Day heat wave followed by the October fires that year, they have produced a strong lineup of very impressive wines. Fans should note that no Falstaff, Farella Vineyard or Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Franc labels were produced in 2017, due to the situation that fruit was still hanging in these key vineyards during the fires. "In 2018, we had a lot of time to pick. We had a lot of time to make the wines," winemaker Benoit Touquette informed me. "Not to get greedy with Mother Nature was the challenge. We didn’t have the huge crops that some people had. We could pick at our leisure. If you did the right viticulture, it was an easy vintage." Indeed, the Realm 2018s have an effortless, carefree purity about them, with all the bright, energetic, crunchy fruit that is a characteristic of this cooler vintage. This is not to say that that these wines do not possess that decadent personality fans have come to love. On the contrary, there is a lot of impactful intensity with these 2018s. Yet they seem to bear a cheery skip in their step, which is going to make you fall in love with this winery all over again." Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate Interim, Oct 2020 |