Introducing our New Winemaking Team
Please join us in welcoming Benoit Touquette as our new winemaker and Michel Rolland as our consulting maker. A native of Bordeaux, Benoit brings exceptional raw talent and significant global experience to Realm Cellars having worked alongside Andy Erickson on numerous projects (Arietta, Favia, Hartwell, Ovid, Screaming Eagle, etc.) and more recently as the full-time winemaker for Hartwell and several smaller projects.
Michel Rolland has become recognized around the world as an indefatigable ambassador of good winemaking practices and is regularly associated with the world's greatest wines. Michel's Napa Valley clients include Araujo, Bond, Bryant Family, Dalla Valle, Harlan Estate/Bond, Sloan and Staglin.
Benoit holds a Masters degree of Enology and Chemistry from the University of Bordeaux and has worked at several Bordeaux wineries including Chateau La Louviere and Chateau Couhins-Lurton. In South Africa he was hired by Michel Rolland to make wine at Remhoogte Estate.
Michel was born in 1947 (an amazing year for Bordeaux) and grew up in Pomerol at his family estate (Château Le Bon-Pasteur). He lives with his wife, Dany, at their wine estate in Fronsac (Chateau Fontenil) and together they run an enology laboratory specializing in wine analysis in the Right Bank town of Libourne. His list of Bordeaux clients includes Pavie, L’Evangile, Angélus, Certan de May, Clinet, Le Gay, Lascombes, Péby-Faugères, Magrez Fombrauge, Pape Clément, Rouget, Troplong-Mondot and dozens of others.
Here are a few interesting quotes from Michel that convey his perspectives:
"A lot of people don't know what I do. My job is to devise a strategy, develop the winemaking and create a blend. There is always a winemaker and I talk to them. I am not making the wine day to day."
"Wine cannot be made by stereotyped methods. This is perhaps where I have been in some ways a forerunner. I do not have a recipe."
"What I bring is a range of experience and a span of reference that other people here, however talented they might be, do not have. A consultant cannot know everything. I am here to give advice with an open mind to the resident winemaker. So the personality of the people is an essential. It's fundamental. If you have no contact with the people, it’s impossible. I’m no magician."
Lastly, a Wine Spectator editor wrote the following in 2006 ... "Rolland's blending skill is phenomenal. Where he shines is in his ability to taste different lots of wine in a winery and then decide which ones work best together to make a great bottle."
6th Highest Bid at Premiere Napa Valley
We are thrilled to announce that our 5-case Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) auction lot
recently attracted the 6th highest price paid per case out of 200 auction lots! Our 2009
vintage PNV Cuvee was right behind the top 5 lots - Scarecrow, Ovid, Schrader, Levy &
McClellan and Shafer.
The winning bid of $26,000 came from Gary Fisch of Gary’s Wine & Marketplace in New Jersey, who narrowly outbid Tokyo-based Nakagawa Wine Co. The strong reception for our 2010 PNV submission was a fitting debut for Benoit Touquette as our new winemaker. The average price per case of $1,546 was up 20% from 2010 and this year’s trade auction raised nearly $2.4 million for the NVV.
2008 Vintage Release - April 15th Offering Deadline
Please note that April 15th is the order deadline for our 2008 vintage release. Mailing
List customers will need to log into our online ordering system to secure an allocation.
If you have not yet personalized your password use your temporary password (realm).
Reminder there is a 3-bottle minimum for this release.
To read our Release Letter click here, to review our 2008 vintage wines click here and to Purchase our 2008 vintage wines click here.
Wait List customers please note that you will not be able to purchase our 2008 wines through our web site. After April 15th any residual inventory will be allocated to our Wait List customers. Thank you for your patience.
Wait List Update
In February 2009 we instituted a Wait List for all new signups for our Mailing List. As
our production has slowly increased, each year we have been able to gradually offer wine
from the current release to a portion of the Wait List. Going forward, Wait List members
will continue to receive our correspondence (updates, invitations, etc.) from us to stay
current.
Our First White Wine
Our affection for crisp and rich white wines has led to the production of Realm’s first
white wine – 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from the Farella Vineyard in Coombsville (also
great site for Cabernet Sauvignon). We have enjoyed sharing this covert effort with
customers at the winery and during our travels. A formal release offering for the 2010
vintage is likely before summer. Ask around as you might know someone who was
fortunate to sample our debut vintage!
2009 Vintage - Bottling & Release Parties
With Benoit and Michel’s assistance we will bottle our 2009 wines in late July. We
anticipate a resumption of our Release Parties (SF, LA, NYC, Texas, etc.) in connection
with the 2009 offering and customers who have participated in our most recent releases
will be given first priority for invitations. Our portfolio is unchanged – 3 Bordeaux
blends (Bard, Falstaff & Tempest) and 3 single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines (Beckstoffer Dr Crane, Farella & Beckstoffer To Kalon).
Calendar of Events
We hope you can join us at the following events over the next several months. If you
have interest in attending private Realm tasting events being organized around these trips
please let us know.
Polaner Selections Spring Portfolio Tasting (3/23 in NYC)
High Museum Wine Auction (3/23-26 in Atlanta)
YMCA Sip & Savor (3/24 at Mercedes Benz, SF)
Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown (4/1&2 in Destin, FL)
NVV Taste Napa Valley Cavallo Point (4/7&8 in Sausalito)
Cotes de Coeur (4/9 in Dallas)
Tenzing Wine & Spirits Portfolio Tasting (4/11 in Chicago)
Pinnacle Imports World Tour (4/10 in St Louis & 4/11 in Kansas City)
NVV Taste China Tour (4/25&26 in Beijing & 4/27&28 in Shanghai)
Pebble Beach Food & Wine (4/28-5/1 in Carmel)
Kentucky Bluegrass Wine Auction (5/5 in Lexington)
Hearts Delight (5/11 in Washington, DC)
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation CA Winemasters (5/14 in Los Angeles)
Beverly Hills Bar Association Vintage Bouquet (5/15 in Beverly Hills)
Meals on Wheels (5/15 in SF)
Auction Napa Valley Barrel Auction (6/3 in St. Helena)
Jackson Hole Wine Auction (7/1-2 in WY)
L'Ete du Vin (7/16 in Nashville)
Sun Valley Wine Auction (7/21-23 in ID)
Thank You
We appreciate your enthusiasm, value your business, and will always encourage
you to
share your feedback with us. Thank you for your continued interest in our wines.
Regards,
| Wendell Laidley Proprietor |
Juan Mercado Proprietor |
Benoit Touquette Winemaker |
P.S. Be sure to check out Lettie Teague’s article on our friend Andy Beckstoffer ("The Most Powerful Grower in Napa") from the Off Duty section of last weekend’s Wall Street Journal (March 19&20). The article mentions both of the Beckstoffer vineyards from which we source fruit (Dr. Crane & To Kalon) along with Realm Cellars and our 2005 Dr. Crane wine.