2008 Realm Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

A brilliant wine (as one might expect, given the source for the raw material) is the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, with the Cabernet Sauvignon coming from the famed Clone 6. This wine (like so many wines from this parcel that is basically a gravel pit) has a very flinty/hot rocks sort of character to the cassis and blackberry fruit, a common element no matter who makes wine from this site. This wine from Realm is like Napa Valley’s version of La Mission Haut-Brion in Bordeaux. It is full-bodied, powerful, flowery, and at the same time, thick, rich and powerful. Giver it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the next 25+ years. These beautiful, lovingly made, hand-crafted wines are all bottled unfined and unfiltered. Tel. (707) 967-0226; fax (707) 967-0227

(includes 4% petit verdot) Good bright ruby-red. Cassis and bitter chocolate on the nose. Lush, sweet and fruit-driven, if a bit less explosive today than the 2007 version. Perhaps a bit less structured and dense but I like this wine's mineral and floral treble notes. (I did not get a chance to see the 2008 To Kalon Vineyard wine, as it had just been racked.)