This is Benoit Touquette's newer single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Since 2013, Benoit has been working with the fifth generation Bettinelli family and their vineyard, which is just south of Yountville tucked into the west bench of the Mayacamas range. Bettinelli Sleeping Lady Vineyard started as a country estate for gold rush-era San Franciscans and as Benoit explains, “It still feels like you should be riding up to the 1870s house on horseback. This vineyard is named for the distinctive foothills behind the property, which look like a woman laying on her side.” Deep garnet-purple colored, this 2019 “charges out of the gate with bold notions of blackcurrant pastilles, stewed plums, and blueberry pie, plus hints of rose hip tea, cracked black pepper and tar. Big, concentrated, and muscular in the full-bodied mouth, it has ripe, plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant.” – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Benoit Touquette grew up in one of Burgundy's Lyon, before moving to Bordeaux to attend graduate school. He worked on the mobile bottling lines to pay for schooling, and it was while doing this that he got to see and feel the infectious passion of the winemakers he met. So he quickly switched his focus to oenology and completed two degrees before moving to Napa Valley to intern with renowned winemaker Andy Erickson (formerly of Screaming Eagle, Staglin and now Dalla Valle, Favia and Marciano) before venturing on his own to become winemaker at Realm Cellars and launch Fait Main and Teeter Totter. Benoit's style of wines that he produces are opulent and bold, with a focus geared towards showing each vineyard's potential.