2019 Realm Cellars The Absurd Proprietary Red Blend | Napa Valley California 750ml

The Absurd stems from a simple yet fantastically complex proposition: it's the very best wine that Realm Cellars produces. It began in 2005, a big, gorgeous vintage that gave us an abundance of glorious fruit. With no rules, no restrictions, we created what we called the super blend, the best of the best. In 2005, it so happened that the blend was 38% Petit Verdot. We thought that was kind of absurd. The name stuck, though the meaning has morphed into a wine that is 'absurdly good'. We only make The Absurd in certain years, when there is enough fruit to make this small blend without impacting the other Realm wines. The Absurd could be one varietal, it could be five. It could come from one vineyard lot, it could come from a dozen. Each time we make The Absurd we start with a blank canvas. Our sole guideline is our palate. Our sole aim is the best Napa Valley wine of the vintage. | Realm Cellars

Another perfect wine in the lineup is the 2019 The Absurd, and while I wasn’t able to get the blend or vineyard sources (they like to keep that a secret), it’s a thrilling, magical wine that tops out on my scale. More dense and concentrated than the Dr. Crane, especially on the mid-palate, it has an incredible, full-bodied, powerful style that carries ample darker cassis and blue fruits as well as scorched earth, tobacco, graphite, and violets. With a monster of a mid-palate, incredible tannins, no hard edges, and a level of purity that’s hard to describe, this needs to be forgotten for at least 4-5 years, and it should have 40-50 years of overall longevity. | 100 points, Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com