A love story going back to 1995, Russell Bevan and Victoria De Crescenzo began their wine journey in Des Moines, Iowa, playing ‘guess the wine’ as they began dating. Following a quite jaunt to Minneapolis they both began making more and more trips back to their native California before deciding to be fully invested in the wine industry. Bevan was initially a wine journalist before making the move to make his own wine. HIs first vintage was 2005 and he has been met with unprecedented critical acclaim since he first began making his highly collectable Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Russell Bevan trained under eminent winemakers Philip Togni and Greg LaFollette who played a large part in his winemaking education in the early days and have remained an inspiration throughout.
Bevan sources from some of the top vineyards in the Napa Valley and has a consistent method of attaining the right amount of extraction in his wines. His wines are rich and decadent but show good balance regardless of vintage. His 2016 Bevan ‘EE Tench Vineyard’ Proprietary Red Wine (WWB, 96) is absolutely a show-stopper with its blending that all marvelously complement each other. Even better was the 2016 Bevan ‘Tench Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon (WWB, 97) which shows off the heat of the vintage and has really intense aromatics and flavors. This beautiful wine really needs a little more bottle age to fully come together. Learn more about these beautiful wines at https://www.bevancellars.com Here are the beautiful new wines by Bevan Cellars.
2016 Bevan ‘Ontogeny’ Red Wine- The ‘Ontogeny’ Red Wine is an outlandishly good wine at this primal stage in its development. Once on the nose this strongly evokes sandalwood, red currant mocha and creme de cassis aromatics that all marvelously take shape in the glass. Following a longer decant the seamless quality of the wine really shines. Mildly tannic, with toasty oak accents, this evokes flavors of Creme de cassis, mocha anise and shades of salted caramel that all build on the palate. Enjoyable now, this dense red wine will cellar well for the next two decades. Drink 2020-2040- 96
2016 Bevan ‘EE Tench Vineyard’ Proprietary Red- The ‘EE Tench Vineyard’ is a stunning blend by Russel Bevan, largely comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) with the remainder, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot. Shades of tar fill the glass, followed by aromatics of anise, blueberry compote on the nose which all enliven the senses. The texture imparted is both soft and delightful as this wine also sees some great acidity and poise. Coffee grounds, freshly laid asphalt, blackberry syrup and milk chocolate complete the flavor range to this downright delicious new bottling. The seamless quality of the wine truly entices. While delight to savor in its youth, this beautiful wine needs at least another year of bottle age to fully hit its stride. Drink 2020-2040- 96
2016 Bevan ‘Tench Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The 2016 ‘Tench Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon is a show-stopping wine by superstar winemaker Russell Bevan. Right out of the gate this impresses with decadent black currant jelly, tar, anise and exotic spice aromas. The texture is both soft and inviting as the wine seamlessly glides across the mid-palate. While quite intense, there is a gorgeous elegance to this wine that shows creme de cassis, mocha, tar and spiced black licorice flavors. The wine finishes big and long with black fruits and minerals. While obviously delightful now, the ‘Tench Vineyard’ Cabernet will have a long life in the cellar. Drink 2020-2040- 97