Wine - Napa Valley - Teeter Totter

When Benoit Touquette dream of being a fighter pilot in the French army was dashed because of a medical test, Benoit tried his hand working at an auto body shop, in road construction and even in banking alongside his father. It wasn't until he got a job with a mobile bottling line in Bordeaux that he was introduced to the wine business and his career choice started to crystallize. While working toward his Masters diplomas in both Chemistry and Oenology, Benoit worked at several French wineries in a production capacity. His experience made two things clear to him: he didn’t want to work in Bordeaux, where opportunities were limited if you weren’t born into a wine family; he did want to be involved with making high end, limited production wines, wherever that might take him.

When Realm’s first winemaker left in 2010, Benoit offered to help his friend – and Realm’s founder -- Juan Mercado with blending the 2009 vintage wines. That offer turned into a full-time gig, and Benoit joined Realm in 2011. Robert Parker honored Benoit's talents this year by awarding two of his wines the coveted 100 point score.