Through his winemaking ventures at Realm and with Fait-Main, Benoit Touquette has the relationships to source from multiple, high-quality vineyard sites throughout Napa Valley, including Andy Beckstoffer's To Kalon, Las Piedras, and Dr. Crane Vineyard, as well as the Bettinelli family’s Sleeping Lady Vineyard to name just a few. The 2021 “is powerful, well-balanced, and carries beautiful aromatics. Fresh raspberries, blackcurrants, floral notes, and spice get swaddled in ripe, polished tannins for some rich and full-bodied satisfaction. Balanced acid gives it incredible length and a killer finish. The perfect plus one for any occasion. This is a phenomenal vintage, don’t wait - open it up...now!”
“Sometimes great wine takes itself too seriously. Teeter-Totter doesn’t have to try so hard – its effortless grace shines through from the moment you pop the cork. With every vintage, we aim for superior quality-price ratio, approachability, and irresistible charm,” explains vintner and winemaker Benoit Touquette. Benoit may have 28 (and counting) 100-point wines under his belt, but he’s never forgotten his humble roots or his playful sense of humor. The Teeter-Totter label makes drinking great wine accessible – and above all, fun. While he takes winemaking and viticulture very seriously, he wants Teeter-Totter to be all about helping people enjoy great wine without getting pretentious about it. 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.
