x
  • Weather

    8° C Broken clouds
  • Time

    02:22 AM
  • Wine average?

    94 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    75
  • Region Ranking?

    7
  • Popularity ranking?

    222

News

Parker 100 points

Another perfect wine is Bevan’s equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the 2012 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain. Notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, forest floor, pen ink mulberries, blackberries and spring flowers soar from this inky/purple-colored 2012. The wine possesses great intensity, remarkable unctuosity and thickness, and perfect integration of acidity, alcohol, tannin and wood. Aged in equal parts new Gamba and Darnajou barrels, there are 225 cases of this fabulous wine. Drink now-2032.

As I wrote last year, Russell Bevan and his partner, Victoria de Cresenzo, are turning out truly mind-blowing, big, rich, majestic wines. Bevan Cellars has hit the bull’s eye with a bevy of incredible efforts that showcases fabulous vineyard sources. Many of these have not been exploited by others. A warning though – these are super-rich, dense, powerful, massive wines. While the tannins are elevated, they are silky and well-integrated, and the wines are neither heavy nor overbearing. Nor is Bevan afraid of alcohol, but he never goes over-the-top.
The bottled 2012s have all seen about 75% new Taransaud French oak barrels and the rest tend to be either Gamba or Darnajou, the latter probably the most difficult high-quality barrel to obtain because of the small production.

Close

History

Back in 1995, when Victoria and I started dating in Des Moines, our favorite game was “Guess the Wine.” We would take turns bringing a blind wine and make the other person guess the varietal and region. When I look back on those dates, there is little mystery about how we arrived where we are today.

 

Soon after that, we moved to Minneapolis and fell in with a group of wine lovers whose passion and knowledge fanned our flame. We started taking regular trips to wine country in California, where we met many of the finest winemakers. We were so inspired by them that to this day we follow many of their principles. We learned first-hand about Philip Togni’s attention to every minute detail…. Saw how Bob Foley would only pick fruit if his palate — not some lab test — told him it was time… Heard Greg La Follette telling us how careful you have to be when making decisions in the winery because even the smallest decision has an impact on the final wine. Our conversations still reverberate with me whether I am at a vineyard or in the winery.

 

Soon enough we were searching for property in our native California. Victoria spent three years trying to find the right site. Finally, she found her dream home on eight acres of land in Bennett Valley, just a few miles from where I grew up. It only took one visit by Kal Showket to plant the seed that led to our estate vineyard. Little did we know that Kal would be key to many of the major changes in our lives from that point on. Later that year, the Showket’s gave us a ton of Cabernet Sauvignon from their best block to see if we would enjoy winemaking.

When that ton of fruit arrived at the winery, we had a dozen friends help us sort the grapes. For fifteen hours we worked, examining each grape by hand and sorting them into three groups: plump and juicy, dimpled, and very ripe. We fermented each batch separately. Tasting the lots two days later, the differences were staggering. The hook was set.

–Russell Bevan and Victoria De Crescenzo

Close

Winemaking

Our approach to winemaking has remained constant since our first vintage. We inspect every grape after it has been removed from the stem. We discard every one that doesn’t meet our standards; typically sacrificing six to eight percent of our fruit during this process. From that stage on, every wine is crafted to maximize balance and textures. Each of our vineyards imparts their fruit with such pure flavors that we strive to bring all of the components into harmony.

All of our wines are aged in new French barrels, including Remond, Francois Freres and Gamba for our Syrahs and Darnajou and Taransaud for Cabernet Sauvignon. We evaluate each barrel of wine biweekly, allowing the wines to dictate to us how they are treated in terms of racking, barrel stirring, sulfur additions and bottling.

While we are not open to the public, we enjoy hosting private tastings at our winemaking facility.

Close

11 different wines with 32 vintages

Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register