2023 Realm Cellars Hartwell XX Cabernet Sauvignon | Wappo Hill, Stags Leap District Napa Valley California 750ml

This one-acre hilltop vineyard, adjacent to Moonracer, holds the oldest vines on the Estate - descended from budwood passed between friends Bob Hartwell and Dick Grace in the 1980s. Long bottled separately by the Hartwell family, the block has a singular character that shows through year after year. It's always denser, richer, and more brooding than Moonracer just down the hill. Old vines don't always look pretty, but they carry the wisdom of many growing seasons, finding a natural balance in the fruit. Not the ripest, most tannic, or the most deeply colored, but with a personality and clarity of purpose that younger vines rarely achieve.
White flower, black currant, roast plum, mountain sage, graham cracker, tangerine, dark chocolate. Creamy and soft, with vibrant freshness. Full, mouth-filling tannins carry through a long, persistent finish. More Italian leather sofa than La-Z-Boy. There's a depth here that isn't loud - but it lingers. | Realm Cellars

...delivers a huge nose of blueberries, scorched earth, cedar pencil, chocolate, and roasted herbs. It's powerful, dense, and full-bodied, with a great mid-palate, ripe, building tannins, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's easily the most structured, rich, and powerful 2023 in the lineup and will need a decade of bottle age. Drink 2035-2055. | 98+ Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com