Today we are delighted to release ‘The Tempest’ 2015 from renowned Napa Realm Cellars. This has recently been awarded 95+ points from Lisa Perrotti-Brown of the Wine Advocate, thereon making it the finest ever made, alongside the 2012, which was awarded 96 points. The price today is extremely compelling at £470 per case of six, which is a superb price for a leading Napa. We are also able to offer it at a 9% discount to the lowest global market price and 21% lower than anyone in the UK market.
Moreover, when compared to recent vintages, £470 per case of six offers an excellent entry point. The 95 point scoring 2014 trades at £575, the 2013 £650 and the 2012 £700. A leading Napa wine under £100 a bottle these days is a rare beast. In fact, only 500 cases are produced a year, which makes its price point more surprising, yet explains why it rises in price quickly in bottle.
| The Tempest | WA | Price (6×75) |
| 2015 | 95+ | £470 |
| 2014 | 95 | £575 |
| 2013 | 94 | £650 |
| 2012 | 96 | £700 |
Realm Cellars was started by Juan Mercado, now led by the very talented French winemaker Benoit Touquette, who was mentored by Michel Rolland. The mission statement of Realm Cellars was to create something that transcends a single vineyard, bottle of wine, or an individual. Realm does not own vineyards, it focuses its energy on securing the highest quality fruit from Napa’s premium vineyards. Realm Cellars, however, takes this a step further, they do not only buy fruit, they develop long-term relationships with owners and growers and thereon play an integral part in how the vineyard is farmed. This process is taken further by employing their own viticulturist who oversees this on a full-time basis. The whole process is a clever combination of embracing tradition and market disruption.
Early on Mercado named the wine after William Shakespeare’s characters. Realm Cellars itself is named after the immortal lines of William Shakespeare’s King Richard II ‘This blessed plot, this earth, this realm…’. The Tempest is named after Shakespeare’s famous play and is fashioned after the great wines of Pomerol in Bordeaux. The Tempest was the first proprietary wine Realm released back in 2002. It is made with beautiful grapes from the most highly coveted Napa vineyards, such as Beckstoffer Orchard and Dr. Crane, as well as Blair Vineyard in Calistoga. It is predominantly Merlot, with lesser amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot depending on vintages.
The Tempest is a broiling cauldron of lush, bright, red fruit – a wine that shows what Merlot can be in the right hands, from the right vineyards. It is a wine that offers incredible intensity of flavour, fruit purity and power, along with harmony, balance and complex fruit profiles. Priced at £78 per bottle in bond, or £96.60 duty and VAT paid this superb 95+ scoring wine is one to own and savour. It can be enjoyed young, or aged and improve for two decades in bottle. It is a stunning blend of Napa and Pomerol.
Realm Cellars The Tempest 2015, 6×75 – £470 IB
95+ points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate
A blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 The Tempest displays a deep garnet-purple colour and wonderfully plummy nose, backed up by notions of blueberry compote, baker’s chocolate, black soil, sandalwood and Chinese five spice. Rich, curvaceous, full-bodied and velvety, it fills the palate with exotic spices, lifted by a lively acid line and finishing on a lingering menthol note.
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