Realm Cellars La Fe Rosé Napa Valley 2020

We here at ACME have been ardent supporters of Realm Cellars since the early days. It has been so rewarding watching a project that we believed in early on thrive and become so well-renowned here in the Napa Valley. Which is why when a little bird told us they made a teensy-tiny amount of rosé in 2020, for the very first time, we were thrilled to taste something so exquisite and unexpected from a year that will be more so remembered for its challenges.

Realm Cellars is the collaboration of Bordeaux-trained winemaker Benoit Touquette and Harvard Business School graduate-turned-vintner Scott Becker. With Benoit at the helm since 2011, they have excelled- with wines being made using fruit from their Stags Leap estate as well as grapes sourced from some of the most premiere vineyard sites in the Napa Valley (Beckstoffer's To Kalon, Dr. Crane, Bourn). The evocative label names and eye-catching artwork often reference the timelessness of the works of Shakespeare (The Bard, Falstaff, The Tempest). With a state-of-the-art estate winery and caves currently under construction, we can only expect more amazing things from the team at Realm Cellars. This absolutely heavenly brand-new rosé project is yet another impressive example.

This delicious and refreshing rosé was made from a small quantity of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon harvested from the Realm Moonracer and Farella estate vineyards. Benoit expressly wanted this rosé to be crisp and exhilarating- it was crafted with gentle pressing, minimal skin contact, a cooler fermentation, and no oak barrel contact. This wine exudes fragrant ruby red grapefruit and fresh strawberry aromas that give way to an incredible vibrancy on the palate with flavors of boysenberry and ripe summer watermelon. The name of this wine, La Fe, exhorts us to have a little faith and optimism, and the future is definitely bright at Realm Cellars.