2021 Realm ‘The Bard’ Napa Valley Red Blend

TWI97 A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, and 1% Petite Sirah, the fruit for the 2021 The Bard comes from sites across the valley, including some estate fruit and some sourced fruit. Deep garnet-purple colored, it shoots from the glass with vibrant notions of crushed black currants, red currant jelly, black raspberries, and pencil shavings, giving way to notes of lilacs, dark chocolate, and a waft of spearmint. The full-bodied palate is firm with ripe, fine-grained tannins and a lively backbone framing the tightly wound red, black, and blue fruit flavors, finishing with great length and a real skip in its step.
Estate Notes: Decadent and plush, bursting with dark red fruits, creamy chocolate and warm spices. There’s a freshness and vibrancy that belies its density and weight. The tannins are round and creamy and provide immediate drinkability. This is the epitome of the Realm style. A pure pleasure to drink. Could age for many years…but why wait? 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 1% Petite Sirah.

The 2021 is the largest and most complex blend we’ve ever made with dozens of components from vineyards across the realm of Napa Valley. This vintage includes new vineyard sources from Calistoga, Rutherford and Oak Knoll AVA, allowing us to broaden our painter’s palette. The Bard is generally more approachable in its youth than some of our single vineyard bottlings, but we expect it to age for many years to come. This is our first time using a technical cork for this wine, which should guarantee consistency and improve longevity.

The label art is taken from a pocket-size edition of Shakespeare’s Richard II. The edition is The Chiswick Shakespeare, a text that first appeared in 1901. The label zeroes in on the opening of Act II, Scene I, on the page that contains the quote, “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm…”. This quote captures the essence of The Bard, a dynamic blend showcasing blessed plots from the realm of Napa Valley.