We began working with Houyi Vineyard in 2013 by purchasing fruit from the Chang family, when Realm didn’t own any land. It was growers like them who made our dream possible in those early years. Fast forward a decade, we purchased this amazing site from the Chang family in 2022 and recently release our first estate wine from this estate. With this context in mind, it is incredible to see the remarkably coherent throughline across these wines from 2013 to 2023 vintages —perhaps the most consistent profile in our entire portfolio.
These wines tend to have more red fruit than black, with underlying spice and savory notes, and a hint of fresh sage and herbs de Provence. When the wines are at their freshest, beautiful blue and violet notes emerge. The tannins are finer-grained and more polished, leading to refined wines with precision. There's a dimensionality here that creates perfect balance between breadth and depth.
Tasting date: April 15, 2025
2013: Defying Expectations
The inaugural vintage of Realm Cellars Houyi Vineyard shows great energy with surprising freshness and acidity, creating an elegant lift that defies expectations. Gorgeous red and black fruit mingles with plum, vanilla, cooking spice and savory notes. Dense and velvety, the wine achieves good verticality and breadth on the palate. Drinking beautifully now and will continue to age gracefully.
2014: Bright and Fresh
A brighter, fresher fruit profile dominates, complemented by intriguing savory notes. The inviting aromatics provides lift and verticality. While this wine is not as dense as the 2013 vintage, it has a delicious creaminess and plenty of complexity for your enjoyment.
2015: Solar Influence
Dark fruit, cherry cola, and dried herbs dance on the palate. Despite the warm vintage, this wine has plenty of juiciness and a hint of cool undertone. Enjoy this solar vintage now while there is plenty of fruit.
2016: Textural Perfection
Very aromatic with the unique herbs de Provence character typical of this area. Fruit-forward and delicious with rich concentration, the wine presents as round, creamy, seamless and velvety. This vintage offers our favorite texture of the entire flight—fullness, roundness, juiciness, and length all in perfect harmony with excellent balance throughout.
2017: Lively and Fresh
Notes of dark cherry, dried fruit and savory herbs. Super creamy but not as dense as other vintages, this wine shows great liveliness and freshness. Enjoy now.
2018: Italian Tailoring
Sleek and elegant with black, red, and blue fruit, mingled with aromas of violets, sage, cloves, and pencil shavings. This wine has a svelte quality "like Italian tailoring—it hugs the palate." Compact and tightly wound with substantial power and concentration, showing remarkable precision and flow. The elegance and balance recall our Dr. Crane vineyard. Built for cellaring—hold.
2019: Shaken Not Stirred
Black fruit, warm spice, sage, and fresh herbs dominate. Inviting with excellent weight, concentration and flow, this wine still has plenty of “baby fat”. We recommend holding, but if you can’t wait, we recommend "shaken not stirred."
2020 Vintage
We did not produce any red wines in 2020.
2021: Hold Please
Somewhat closed on the nose at the moment but explodes across the palate with primary, decadent fruit, baking spices, floral notes, and fresh herbs. Delicious and seductive with a creamy entry and beautiful flow, showing a fleshier feel reminiscent of the 2018. Velvety, concentrated, and polished, this wine needs a few more years to open up.
2022: Precision and Balance
Bright, juicy, silky and perfumed, this wine has gorgeous fruit. Although a slightly smaller wine than 2021, it shows remarkable clarity, precision and balance. We recommend holding for a few more years if you have the patience.
2023: Built to Last
Bold, structured. Dark, pure fruit and savory notes flow through a creamy texture and generous tannins, built to last.
To learn more about the label artwork, visit Houyi Estate: Behind the Label, click here.
