California Collector Wines

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The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Incubo is another fabulous wine from Aaron Pott’s Mount Veeder estate. Inky dark fruit, grilled herbs, leather, incense, licorice and dried flowers power through in this dense, explosive Cabernet Sauvignon.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe 2021 Incubo Cabernet Sauvignon, with 1% Cabernet Franc in the blend, is deep garnet-purple in color. Scents of blackcurrant jelly, kirsch, wild blueberries, and aniseed leap from the glass with underlying hints of cedar, graphite, and black olives. Full, firm, fine-grained, and bright, the palate shimmers with energy, delivering a long minerally finish.The Wine Independent | 97 TWISo focused, vibrant, layered and lively, with aromas of red fruit, subtle oak spices, currants and mint. Fine-grained tannins embrace the classic black cherry and cassis flavors. A brilliant wine that only needs time to mature and develop more complexity. Best from 2029.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Incubo is brilliant juice, offering a deep purple hue as well as a killer bouquet of crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, spring flowers, and damp earth/underbrush-like nuances. I love its complexity and this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, elegant mouthfeel, fine tannins, and a great finish. Blended with just a splash of Cabernet Franc, drink this classy, impeccably made Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon over the coming two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JD

This note is written before the final blend of the 2021 Continuum. Deep purple-black in color, it hits the ground running with an intense nose of red and black currant preserves, lilacs, baker’s chocolate, and graphite, leading to an undercurrant of black olives and red loam. On the medium to full-bodied palate it is very lively, grainy and super-concentrated, finishing long and shimmery.The Wine Independent | 98-100 TWIThis is so aromatic with blackcurrant, blackberry, graphite, iron, pine bark and orange peel. Hints of wild sage and peppermint. Seductive perfumes. Full-bodied with extremely well-integrated tannins that have great length. Elegant firmness at the finish. The quality of the tannins is some of the best I have had in a young Continuum. Seamless silk. Great finish. 45% cabernet sauvignon, 35% cabernet franc, 11% merlot and 9% petit verdot. Best after 2027.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2021 Proprietary Red Wine Sage Mountain Vineyard is a heady, bombastic wine with a huge fruit profile and equally imposing tannins. In so many vintages, Continuum can be quite racy and seductive, but 2021 is not one of those years. Readers will have to be especially patient here. Lavender, mocha, crème de cassis and cloves build into the substantial, resonant finish. The blend is 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot. It will be interesting to see if the tannins soften. Today, the 2021 is a brute. Let’s see what time bringsVinous Media | 94+ VM

Floral, non-fruity hints of crushed stone and talcum powder appear on the nose of Aubert’s 2021 Chardonnay Powder House, creating an attractive counterpoint to the wine’s honeyed richness and intense white-peach notes. Full-bodied and silky in feel, it’s a bit custardy in texture yet lithe, graceful and long, with an almost mentholated finish. There are 2,000 cases this vintage, from a Forestville vineyard planted in 2015 mainly to Hyde Old Wente, plus a bit of Mount Eden.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPLove the aromas of lemon-lime, gunpowder, kiwi, and dried lemons. It’s full, phenolic and solid. This is like red wine in structure. Long and persistent. One for the cellar. Give this some time. Best after 2025.James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2021 Chardonnay Powder House is elegant, polished and also a touch reticent. That won’t be an issue in time, but the Powder House is decidedly reticent today. Strong mineral accents are front and center, while the fruit feels pushed into the background. Mark Aubert’s Chardonnays have historically aged quite well. I expect that will be the case here as well.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM

The 2021 EE Red Wine is ripe and powerful, with smoky red and black fruits as well as lots of background oak, graphite, espresso, and dark chocolate-like aromas and flavors that develop beautifully with time in the glass. Deep, rich, full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has plenty of background oak, the building tannins of the vintage, and a great finish. A gorgeous wine, it will benefit from 3-4 years in the cellar and evolve for 25-30 years in cold cellars. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDA blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Proprietary Red EE Tench Vineyard offers up a wonderful range of dark fruit—black cherries, cassis and blackberries—couched in hints of dark chocolate. Like almost all the Bevan wines, it’s full-bodied, richly concentrated and velvety in texture. This one finishes long, with a mocha and cocoa-stained finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95-97 RPThe 2021 Red Blend EE is one of the more overt wines in the range. Super-ripe red cherry, blackberry, chocolate, spice, gravel and licorice are all amplified in this heady, exotic Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend. The 2021 is a powerhouse.Vinous Media | 93-96 VM

The terrific 2021 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain is a 60-40 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot from this vineyard in southern Napa. Vaguely floral and leafy, loaded with purple raspberries and cherries, this is really complex, with lovely fruit. Full-bodied, supple, silky and seamless, it finishes long and elegant.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98-100 RPThe 2021 Red Wine Sugarloaf Mountain is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot. Ripe and juicy, the 2021 delivers the goods and then some. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, cloves, chocolate and new leather are all dialed up. This heady, exotic red is classic Bevan all the way. The 2021 is one of the best Sugarloaf wines I can remember tasting. What a knock-out.Vinous Media | 94-97 VMGorgeous blue fruits, mountain scrub brush, sage, espresso, black raspberry, and violet notes all emerge from the 2021 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot that’s full-bodied and has terrific overall balance, building, fine-grained tannins, and a good spine of acidity that carries through the finish. This is another gorgeous wine in the lineup that shines for its complexity, balance, and depth.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JD

This shows a lot of class, with aromas of blackcurrants, graphite, blueberries, dried flowers, black truffles and a touch of forest floor. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, with seamless tannins that goes on and on. Endless. Blackcurrants, dark mushrooms and violets with hints of fresh rose stems and light herbs. Velvety texture. A blend of 92% cabernet sauvignon, 6% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. Better after 2027.James Suckling | 97 JSThe 2021 Napanook is one heck of a Napanook, offering complex notes of currants, cassis, graphite, leafy tobacco, lead pencil, and chocolate. Incredible on the palate, it s full-bodied and round, with supple, vibrant, incredible tannins. This is easily the finest vintage I’ve tasted of this cuv e and it s the equivalent of many a Grand Vin from other producers.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDThe 2021 Napanook, tasted from barrel, is fabulous. Rich, deep and super-expressive, the 2021 captures all the best the vintage has to offer. A whole range of floral and savory overtones lend nuance. This vibrant, intensely mineral Cabernet Sauvignon is an absolute delight to taste today, and an especially fine edition of Napanook, endowed with big fruit and equally potent tannins.Vinous Media | 92-94 VM

Lastly, the 2021 The Bard checks in as 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah. This beauty has a killer bouquet of cassis, spring flowers, graphite, chalky minerality, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied, seamless, silky, flawlessly balanced effort revealing fine tannins, a good sense of freshness, and a thrilling finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDAfter sampling 86 wines over a two-day marathon tasting with Realm Cellars co-owners Scott Becker and winemaker Benoit Touquette, I had no doubt that one would make my top 10 list of the year. It would be The Bard, which will be available beginning in 2024. It is a very giving wine that promises great rewards for long-term cellaring and is enjoyable three full nights in a row, never losing its zeal if having one great glass each night is your prerogative. Power and muscle frame the core of this towering red, with its red-toned fruits and rich, toasty oak spices nuanced by bay Laurel and pastis. Full-bodied with tremendous decadence of chocolaty tannins that are pliant and billowy, lifted by supple blackberry and black raspberry fruit, a drizzle of cherry coulis, and resolving with refined tobacco, cedar wood spices, and laced with coriander and cumin aromatics. It has a satisfyingly rich finish. Number five of my top 10 wines of 2023.Decanter | 97 DECThe purity of fruit here is impressive with blackcurrants, bark and black mushrooms. Full-bodied but light-footed and fresh with integrated tannins that melt into the wine. Real transparency and focus. 83% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot and 1% petite sirah. So drinkable but can age as well.James Suckling | 97 JSA 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.The Wine Independent | 97 TWIThe 2021 The Bard is fabulous. Rich, ample and beautifully resonant, the 2021 offers up generous dark red cherry/plum fruit, mocha, new leather, licorice, spice, menthol and pipe tobacco. Full-bodied and voluptuous, the 2021 flaunts tons of flavor intensity and vibrancy. It’s a gorgeous wine, especially considering it is the largest-production wine at Realm.Vinous Media | 95 VM

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine and also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The 2021 possesses mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse.Vinous Media | 99 VM

One of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn’t get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it s rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 (maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30+ years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe purity of the cabernet fruit is so enticing, with blackcurrant, rose petals, nettles and subtle graphite. Touches of terra cotta and licorice. Full-bodied with super integrated tannins that are wonderfully polished, giving a cashmere texture that is really luxurious to taste at this early stage. It is quenching and so delicious already. 95% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. Needs three to four years to come around but already a joy to taste. Try after 2027.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2021 Dominus is a powerful, tightly-coiled wine that is holding back quite a bit of reserve. There’s real depth and resonance waiting to emerge as the wine matures. Floral overtones and bright acids confer energy to a core of red/bluish fruits. Readers will find a Dominus built more on linear precision rather than opulence. It is hugely impressive in this tasting, with a long chalky finish.Vinous Media | 98 VMThis shows density on par with the ’18, with a core of cassis and plum notes still tucked away a bit behind a wall of structure, while singed toast and licorice hints peek in throughout. The youthfully backward aspect shows on the finish as well, where this throws a chunk of tannins to the fore. Very concentrated and with serious tension, this is a strapping young wine that shows what a warm and very dry vintage feels like. Think ’18/’13 combo here. Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc. -- Non-blind Dominus retrospective (August 2022). Wine Spectator | 96-99 WS

The 2021 Les Pavots is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot. It’s a beautiful wine you could drink now or stash in the cellar, with a concentrated, broody yet polished profile. It has pure scents of blueberry liqueur, lilac, cast iron, grilled meats and soy sauce plus hints of wild thyme and truffle. The full-bodied palate offers a structural balance of clay-textured tannins and bright acidity, deriving its power from its sheer depth of dark fruit, and it has a long, detailed finish. 2,769 cases were made, and the Les Pavots will be released in February of 2024.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe blackberry and sage character comes through clearly, with some orange blossoms, graphite, dried tomatoes, green tobacco and stone. A rich and juicy red with lots of berry and chocolate character, with a full body and layered rich tannins. It’s flavorful yet hemmed in with firm yet rounded tannins. Muscular. 62% cabernet sauvignon, 25% cabernet franc, 7% merlot, and 6% petit verdot. This needs four or five years to come together and show its true self. Best after 2028.James Suckling | 97 JS