Wine Advisor
Realm Cellars, Moonracer Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Description
Moonracer is Realm’s Estate wine from our SLD Estate Vineyard on Wappo Hill in the Stags Leap District. The Cabernet Sauvignon-based Moonracer is composed of the finest lots from the Estate vineyard. Winemaker Benoit Touquette has much to choose from, as the site, with its multiple blocks, elevations, facings and diverse soils, has character in spades. Moonracer bears the unmistakable mark of this stimulating vineyard as well as the Stags Leap District. The wine is strong and powerful yet elegant, with refined tannins and plenty of depth. What Benoit calls “intellectual.” It’s a wine that will appeal to both international and American palates. It walks the line, combining characteristics typical of northern and southern Napa Valley. It’s got plenty of fruit but also layered flavors, depth and complexity. First Vintage: 2014
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Moonracer emerges from Realm’s estate vineyard in Stags Leap. Inky, opulent and full-throttle, the Moonracer captures the personality of this site and vintage so well. Crème de cassis, licorice, spice, menthol, new French oak and lavender all flesh out as this sumptuous, exotic Cabernet Sauvignon shows off its racy curves. The 2018 needs a bit of time to fully come together, but it was only bottled this past June, which is to say later than most of the wines in Realm’s September 2020 release. Patience will be rewarded. For those who can’t wait, the 2018 starts to become approachable about 12 hours after opening. When the remainder of the 2018s are released in early 2021 readers will see a new, small bottling from the very top of the estate made from blocks planted with one of the most important legacy Cabernet Sauvignon clones in Napa Valley. But back to Moonracer. It is a wine that captures so much of what makes the Realm wines special and unique. The blend is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot.
About the Producer
Realm Cellars produced their first vintage in 2002 (made at Sherwin Family Winery by winemaker Mike Hirby). Along with their estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District, Realm Cellars sources fruit from a number of premium vineyards located within and around the Napa Valley including Dr. Crane, Farella and To Kalon vineyards. These vineyards are well-regarded in the industry both for the pedigree of their grapes as well as in some cases, historical significance. Both Dr. Crane and To Kalon are closely tied to the vineyard history of the Napa Valley and their specific sites combine the best in terroir and grapes to produce premium vineyards and wines. Realm’s mission is to produce limited amounts of premium wines from Bordeaux red varietals (both blends and single vineyard wines). Original founding partner, Juan Mercado switched careers from hospital administration in the San Francisco Bay Area to working in the wine industry. This is a career change that we venture a guess to say Juan certainly has no regrets about. Managing partner, Scott Becker joined Juan in 2012 – today Scott is the owner of Realm Cellars. He has been involved in the wine industry for many years – first working at Cakebread Cellars – later for Global Wine Partners, (a company that focused on wine investments) and then for Bill Harlan to help develop PROMONTORY. For many years, Realm did not own vineyards, and focused their efforts on securing high quality fruit from premium vineyards entirely within the Napa Valley – a “realm” of properties if you will that spans from Calistoga to Coombsville. For any vineyards they work with not under their ownership, they don’t just buy fruit – they develop a relationship with the owner or grower and play an integral part in how each vineyard is farmed. They employ their own viticulturist who works with the property owners/farmers on a full time basis. Their focus is two-fold; creating red blends from various Napa vineyards with proprietary names as well as single vineyard, mostly single varietal wines.