Realm Cellars

Moonracer 2018

Stags Leap District, Napa Valley

Download

Moonracer is from Realm’s estate vineyard on Wappo Hill in the Stags Leap District AVA. Winemaker Benoit Touquette has worked with the vineyard for years, and the site, with its multiple blocks, elevations, facings, and diverse soils, has character in spades. It is said this elevated site was important to the Wappo Native Americans as it provided the tribe with a central lookout from which to identify intruders. Jack London, who wrote about the curious inter-tribal races that took place during full moons, noted that the Wappos often won. Thus Moonracer, an oblique reference to the earliest inhabitants of the place Realm calls home. The wine is composed each year of the site’s finest lots, creating a Cabernet Sauvignon that is strong and powerful yet also elegant, with refined tannins and plenty of depth.

Vineyard

After three years of farming their estate vineyard, the viticultural practices have brought precision and focus to the 2018 Moonracer. With its south, east and southeast-facing slopes, this is a complex site that is reflected in the wine.

Winemaking

A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot

Tasting Note

“With red, blue and black (cassis) fruit, this is an aromatic wine that hits at the edge of minerality with a distinct note of graphite/pencil shavings plus a hint of licorice. The wine hits both high and low notes, with brightness but also density. It sits on the palate not with heaviness but with depth. With its tannic structure, this Moonracer is not for the faint of heart; however, it goes beyond hedonism and heft into something more serious and intellectual.” – Realm Cellars

Color

Red

Grape Varieties

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot

Appellation

Stags Leap District, Napa Valley

Alcohol

14.6%

Suggested Retail Price

$380

Reviews

"Such precision and elegance"

James Suckling - February 11, 2021 "Full-bodied, structured red with blackcurrant, violet, dark-chocolate and burnt-orange aromas. Walnut husk, too. Such precision and elegance. Firm, smooth tannins and a long finish. Really complex at the end. A stunning wine from Stags Leap District." 

"Serious, age-worthy wine"

Decanter (98+ ) - February 11, 2021 "From the estate property around the new winery in Stags Leap, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Moonracer (there are normally small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the blend) offers a glorious Napa Cabernet nose of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, dried flowers, and chocolate that develops beautifully with time in the glass. It doesn't lose a beat on the palate either and is full-bodied, with a layered, focused texture, building structure, and a great, great finish. It's a serious, age-worthy wine that needs 4-5 years of bottle age yet will evolve like a First Growth from Bordeaux." 

Other Wines by this Producer

The Bard

Napa Valley, California

With vineyards spanning from Calistoga to Coombsville, from the Mayacamas Mountains to the Vaca Range, The Bard is the most complex and diverse blend Realm produces. The Bard is a dense, weighty, and concentrated wine that year in and year out showcases the most dynamic expression of Napa Valley. This cabernet sauvignon-based proprietary blend celebrates the art and precision required of meticulous blending, combining grapes from impeccable growing sites with the judicious oversight of the human hand and palate. 

Fidelio

Napa Valley, California

Fidelio is Realm’s sole white wine, a 100% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from FarellaVineyard and grower vineyards. Grapes for Fidelio are picked at different stages of maturity to yield a spectrum of fruit flavors and textures, yielding a wine that is neither oaky nor in the green/grassy camp. Well-balanced and fresh tasting, this is Realm’s version of a fine white Bordeaux: expansive on the palate, wonderfully complex, beautifully structured and concentrated.