Realm Cellars The Fidelio Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Rare new Sauvignon Blanc from Realm Cellars. Limited. Fidelio is the name of the only opera that Ludwig van Beethoven ever composed. Realm commissioned artist Silvia Ji to create both Fidelio labels. In the second, pictured here, Ji overpainted her first label, leaving hints of the initial label art with some of the flourishes. As she began working on the new label, Napoleon’s bicorne hat was auctioned off by Sotheby’s, which made it a natural addition to the artwork as a period reference. Realm is more notable for their full-throttle, powerful reds but they also make one white wine. From the winery: "When we decided to make a Sauvignon Blanc in 2007, we wanted it to be a serious wine. Trouble was, we weren’t sure how to identify a great Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. We asked our friend Andy Erickson, who’s had a lot of experience with the varietal. 'That’ll be easy for you,' he said. 'A great Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard is going to make a great Sauvignon Blanc.' It makes sense; after all, Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. What wasn’t so easy, however, was finding a great Cab vineyard planted to Sauvignon Blanc. That’s where Farella came in, the Coombsville vineyard that’s been the source of one of our favorite Cabernets since 2003. Farella has all these layers of volcanic tufa, decomposed rocks and ashy deposits – perfect for Cabernet, and as it turns out, Sauvignon Blanc. Farella has a few rows of SB on a slope in the northwest corner of the site, and after bugging Tom Farella for three years, we were finally able to secure the fruit in 2009. These grapes form the backbone of Fidelio (formerly known as Ibid), to which we add small amounts of Sauvignon Blanc from other sites for additional complexity. Fidelio is our version of a fine white Bordeaux: expansive on the palate, wonderfully complex, a beautifully structured and concentrated white."

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