Wine & Spirits

Almost floral nose with earth dark berries and cedar. Creamy, spicy berries with leather, vanilla, cloves and caramel on the palate. Delicious!  --Mat Allen Winemaker Notes The red wines of Chateau Musar are known for their complexity and maturity. The wine is aged 12 to 15 months in Nevers oak, and blended in its third year, before being bottled and aged in the cellar for four years. The Chateau Musar Red 1997 is a great vintage - a very important wine with immense power and concentration of fruit, a very great year with fabulous colour and incredible potential for living.

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Winemaker Notes The Bard is a dense, weighty, and concentrated wine that year in and year out showcases the most dynamic expression of Napa Valley. This cabernet sauvignon based proprietary blend celebrates the art and precision required of meticulous blending, combining grapes from impeccable growing sites with the judicious oversight of the human hand and palate. A wine that punches far above its weight. BeckstofferTo Kalonand Dr. Crane, Houyi Vineyard, Blair Vineyard, Weitz Vineyard, Fortuna Vineyard, Beckstoffer Orchard, and Realm’s Stags Leap Estate Vineyard have all found a place in various vintages of The Bard. With vineyards spanning from Calistoga to Coombsville, from the Mayacamas Mountains to the Vaca Range, The Bard is the most complex and diverse blend Realm produces. Blend: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 2$ Petite Sirah Critical Acclaim Jeb Dunnuck The 2018 The Bard is beautiful and certainly in the same realm as the 2015 and 2016, both magical wines. This cuvée reveals a deep purple color followed by a beautiful perfume of crème de cassis, blackberries, roasted coffee, spring flowers, and violets. With incredible richness, no hard edges, and a blockbuster finish, this incredible wine offers serious opulence with no sensation of heaviness or weight. It's beautifully done and already complex and nuanced. It will evolve for at least 15+ years. Vinous The 2018 The Bard is fabulous and also one of the very finest wines I have ever tasted from Realm. Vertical structure, power and explosive energy infuse the 2018 with tremendous character. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, leather, licorice and lavender are some of the many notes that run through the 2018. This is the first vintage that includes a dollop of Petite Sirah from Bourn. It is also the first vintage in which a portion of the wine was aged in concrete eggs, which seems to add tension and a palpable sense of vibrancy. The Bard is a blend of 40 different lots, everything from Calistoga to Coombsville, a marriage of elements that works so well. Although none of these wines could be referred to as inexpensive, The Bard is a tremendous relative value within the context of high-end Napa Valley. I loved it.

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Winemaker Notes The name refers to the Latin word for many, and was chosen to signify the various facets involved in creating a fine wine: from the sun, soil, and climate of a vineyard, to the team of people who guide a wine through its evolution. A breathtaking mountainous 7-acre site with steep exposures to the north, east and southeast, the soil is comprised of volcanic bedrock. Pluribus, which debuted in the 2003 vintage, is defined as a bold, rich and concentrated wine; elements of dark plum, roasted coffee, and scents of cedar are inherent throughout the vintages. Critical Acclaim RP99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Pluribus vineyard is situated on Spring Mountain, producing a sometimes broody wine in its youth with tons of latent power and energy waiting to erupt. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Pluribus is a little closed and youthfully mute to begin, slowly unfurling to offer glimpses at baked plums, crushed blackcurrants, boysenberries and redcurrant jelly plus suggestions of charcoal, black olives, Sichuan pepper and bay leaves with a waft of pain grille. Full-bodied, it has a rock-solid frame of very firm, ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular black fruit and savory accents, finishing with phenomenal length and loads of earthy layers. JD98 Jeb Dunnuck Lastly, the 2016 Pluribus completes the lineup of just about pure perfection in Napa Valley Cabernet, and readers can’t go wrong with any of these 2016 Bond releases. As with the Vecina, the Pluribus is a powerful, structured wine that offers pure blue fruits (cassis, blueberries), notes of smoke tobacco, spice, and liquid rock, a full-bodied, expansive, opulent mouthfeel, and flawless balance. Its purity of fruit as well as its power, married to include finesse, sets this beauty up near the top of the pyramid. Give bottles 7-8 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 3 decades.

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Winemaker Notes Making its debut with the 2006 vintage, the name is derived from the German word for a pristine source or an artesian aquifer. This property is steeply sloped facing southwest. The site is an ancient riverbed composed of cobble and rocks interwoven with pockets of tufa (volcanic ash) that were uplifted during the last volcanic activity in the area. Quella displays an almost ethereal quality of blue fruits, graphite, and a vibrant, subtle finish. Critical Acclaim James Suckling This is really crazy with decadent and opulent aromas of dark fruit and sliced meat. Hints of dried fruit, too. Sexy. Full-bodied with firm and silky tannins that fan out into the wine and deliver a beautiful frame and focus. Jeb Dunnuck Always a “Wow” wine, the 2016 Quella doesn’t disappoint, showing its classic, savory, mineral style as well as stunning notes of blueberries, plums, spice box, herbs de Provence, and melted licorice. This full-bodied, ripe, powerful wine has a wealth of tannins yet leans on its depth of fruit and opulence at the moment. It needs 7-8 years of bottle age, but it’s a rock star Napa Valley Cabernet that will keep for 3 decades.

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Winemaker Notes The name Melbury is in homage to an historic area in London, where the estate owners reside much of the year. Since its debut with the 1999 vintage, the consistent hallmarks of Melbury have been plush red fruits (currants, bing cherries), redolent with spice and the scent of violets. Elegance and a supple texture define the structure of this wine. The particular exposition of this rocky 7-acre hillside vineyard is southerly overlooking Lake Hennessey, allowing the vines to capture the morning sun yet moderating afternoon temperatures. Critical Acclaim Jeb Dunnuck Moving to the single vineyard releases, the 2016 Melbury is pure perfection in a glass and is the finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve tasted. Awesome notes of cassis, blackcurrants, toasted bread, white flowers, and spice give way to an ethereal, seamless, yet opulent wine that has that rare mix of power and elegance possessed by all truly great wines. Full-bodied, concentrated, and with building yet perfectly ripe tannins, do your best to give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age. It will evolve effortlessly for 30 years or more. James Suckling Blueberries, forest floor, and hints of fresh flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, very dense and polished with amazingly tight and integrated fruit. Persistent finish. The tannins melt into the wine. Complete. Drink after 2023.

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Winemaker Notes Vecina is coined from the Spanish word for neighbor. This is our endeavor with the property situated directly southeast of the BOND winery. The beautifully terraced volcanic soil slopes of this property reside in Oakville’s western foothills. The 11-acre site faces due east and is the recipient of cool morning sun. Vecina, which appeared with the 1999 vintage in the inaugural BOND release, is always powerful, intense and savory. Vecina’s other hallmarks are blackberry fruit, with wild forest floor and mineral associated overtones. Critical Acclaim RP98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate The 2014 Vecina displays a deep garnet-purple color and has a broody, baked blueberries, cassis and anise-laced nose with suggestions of garrigue, dusty earth and bay leaves. Full-bodied, rich, spicy and powerful in the mouth, it offers a lot of latent layers and promises great, great things to come with an incredibly long, layered finish. It needs a bit of time but should cellar beautifully for a good 25 years+. JD97 Jeb Dunnuck Another awesome wine is the 2014 Vecina and it’s from a vineyard on the western side of the valley, right up next to Harlan Estate. This deep, full-bodied, seriously concentrated 2014 gives up loads of plums, currants, toasty oak, chocolate, and chalky minerality. It picks up a touch of violets with time in the glass, but the theme here is deep, dark fruit and minerality. With the forward, supple style of the vintage, it still has serious concentration and structure, and is going to be long-lived.

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Clear, deep ruby. Clean, medium plus intensity aroma of blackberry, currant, leather, cedar, anise. Dry, high acidity, high tannins, full body and long finish. Palate confirms the nose. --Marcos Iglesias "The purity of fruit is fantastic with blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries and hints of walnut shell. Full-bodied, tight and very focused. Chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. " 99 points James Suckling  

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Winemaker notes: The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it rocks-up out of the glass with open knit scents of blackcurrant pastilles, black raspberries and mulberries plus suggestions of garrigue, potpourri, stewed black tea and fragrant earth. Rating: 92 points Jeb Dunnuck – Lots of crème de cassis, cedar wood, tobacco, and dried herb-like aromas and flavors emerge from the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon. A medium to full-bodied, elegant wine that’s very much in the more linear, elegant style of the 2018 vintage, it has light tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and a pure, classy, balanced style. It’s going to evolve nicely for 10-15 years.

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93 points Vinous  Rinaldi's 2003 Barolo Brunate Le Coste is another gorgeous wine. Fresher than the Barolo Cannubi/S. Lorenzo Ravera, the Brunate impresses for its freshness and overall balance. Here the aromatics retain an attractive sense of lift, while the tannins are nicely integrated, especially considering the year. The heat of the vintage is evident, but with some decanting, the 2003 freshens up a bit. This is a wine to open, drink and enjoy without a lot of fanfare. In 2003, the Brunate Le Coste absorbed the punishing heat a little more gracefully than the Barolo Cannubi/S. Lorenzo Ravera. (AG)  (6/2014) 91 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar  Medium amber-red. Distinct notes of surmaturite on the nose: plum jam, damp earth, black truffle. Then lush, fat and wonderfully sweet, with liqueur-like red fruit and brown spice flavors showing plenty of energy. A strong, highly concentrated wine finishing with rich, surprisingly suave, horizontal tannins and enticing lingering sweetness. (ST)  (11/2007) 90 points Wine Spectator  Shows wonderful aromas of ripe strawberry, with hints of nectarine. Full and silky, with pretty fruit and a caressing finish. Racy. (JS)  (12/2007)

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Vineyard notes: "Produced from 314 plots totaling nearly 28 hectares (75 acres) of vineyards. Ao Yun vineyards range in altitude from 2,200 to 2,600 meters, enabling the cabernet sauvignon grape to express the full refinement of this unique terroir. Local farmers have worked these lands for centuries, adapting their farming techniques to the steep mountainsides. To respect time-honored local tradition, the grape harvest and winemaking are done entirely by hand. The Ao Yun terroir enjoys exceptional climatic conditions, with temperatures similar to those of Bordeaux."   Showing blackberry, ink, tar, earth, incense, cloves and black licorice. Thyme, too. And the purity of fruit with cassis is the real thing. This is full-bodied but it remains so fresh and vertical on the palate. A  blend of 60 percent cabernet sauvignon, 19 percent cabernet franc, 10 percent merlot, 7 percent syrah and 4 percent petit verdot, it still needs three or four years to come together in the bottle before opening.

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Winemaker Notes This profound and powerful Chardonnay exhibits a rich, complex tintensity that can only be found in unfiltered wines. The grapes are predominantly grown in the Carneros region where bay breezes and morning fog combine to create the cooler climate ideal for growing Chardonnay rich with concentrated flavors. Critical Acclaim James Suckling Pure and creamy nose with some toasted hazelnut to the lemons and nectarines. Lightly briny on the palate, with a fine, mineral touch to the long, creamy finish.

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Winemaker Notes Cassis, cedar wood, musk, and slate aromas lend well to a powerful and mineral-driven palate. The intensely concentrated 2016 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon displays a dark, inky red hue. Critical Acclaim James Suckling A very intense, perfectly ripe and seamless cabernet that delivers a wealth of dark berries, blue fruits ad blackberry on the nose with attractively integrated oak spice, earth, black truffle and violet-like perfume. The palate has an extraordinary array of fine, layered tannins and a long fresh and alluringly succulent finish that holds fresh and long. Superb cabernet. Drink or hold. Wine Enthusiast A 100% varietal, this lovely, structured and layered wine tastes distinctly of the appellation—a mix of sage, dust and crushed rock complemented by cedar and dried herb. The fruit is elusively nuanced in red and black currant as well as cassis, concentrated enough to consider further aging. Enjoy from 2026–2030. Cellar Selection.

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