2021 The Tempest

Realm is, without question, the most ambitious winery in Napa Valley today. Realizing the perils of depending solely on purchased fruit, principals Scott Becker and Benoit Touquette have put together an enviable collection of estate vineyards, starting with Hartwell in Stags Leap, then Farella in Coombsville and most recently Houyi, ensuring that Realm will always have a dependable supply of estate fruit. It’s a bold move that has been matched by very few other players in Napa Valley and only one on a large scale that I can think of. I tasted the 2021s at Houyi, a spectacular site on Pritchard Hill that also affords striking views of the area. The wines are seriously impressive and also show a gradual move towards a style that favors a bit more vibrancy than in the past. "It was a year with very small berries and high tannins," Touquette explained. "We had to be careful to not extract too much."