Bevan Cellars Proprietary Blend Ontogeny Napa Valley 2023

Being Napa neighbors – we can walk to one of his facilities from our office in two minutes – we’ve had the pleasure of meeting Russell Bevan enough times to accept that we will never know whether his yearbook superlative should have been most popular, biggest nerd, or most likely to succeed (~40 perfect 100 point scores… so maybe that last one?). He simply stands out – even beyond his tall stature and provocative wit – as do his stratospherically acclaimed creations, which our First Bottlers are rightfully greedy for. The wines are massive and sexy, tenderly soulful, unbelievably pure… and probably the ones you most want to drink. Which is why we wish we had more of this 2023.

A core tenet of Russell’s notorious meticulousness is sanitation, which isn’t glamorous, but it is godly… and god-level. He believes a scrupulously clean cellar is the chemistry key to an environment where he can gracefully push the style envelope without inadvertently making the wines taste hot. (For one, less bacteria means lower volatile acidity.) When he took the plunge and founded Bevan Cellars in 2005, “going in as a neat freak helped a ton,” he’s said. I remember him once sharing that when he hires cellar interns, he’s more concerned about whether they have a personal-excellence standard of making their bed every day than with how many harvests they've notched. 

Russell is a fourth-generation Sonoma native, and a voracious autodidact who credits his wine knowledge to books by French enologist Émile Peynaud and hands-on fermentation time with freewheeling winemaking greats like Greg Lafollette and Kent Rosenbloom. His formal education was a Philosophy degree from Gonzaga, crowned by a thesis foreshadowingly entitled “Hedonistic Utilitarianism Is a Moral Imperative.” 

“Ontogeny” means the development of an individual organism from its earliest form to maturity. The 2023 barrel selection was built from 75% Cabernet Sauvignon (Tench Vineyard in Oakville, and Phelan Vineyard), about 13% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and a dash of Petit Verdot and Malbec. Tench is a coveted linchpin – with Screaming Eagle as a nextdoor neighbor. 

The 2023 vintage spent 15 months in 100% new French oak from six different coopers. It is potent and ravishing from bouquet to finish, with devastatingly good Cab Franc inclusion. A heart of round, ultra-ripe blackberry allows fresh red cherry to bleed in at the edges. Spanish olives and prosciutto activate the salivary glands, while spicy bay leaf glides into festive cardamom. Then there is an emotional, vinous quality evoking grape clusters hanging in the vineyard under careful watch. With time in the glass, if you can muster the discipline, pink roses unfurl and Ceylon cinnamon shows quite distinctly. Toasty tobacco melds with dark, sweet wood as the enveloping completeness crescendos in magically fine, tingly tannins. Yowza. Ready to head to your cart? Shipping is included on 4+ bottles. And at under $100, add a couple extra and heed Jeb Dunnuck’s 97 point review: “Drink this hedonistic pleasure bomb over the coming 15+ years. As always, this is an absolute brilliant Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that more than delivers the goods.”

FOOD PAIRINGS: Let’s let this boisterous bad boy take up all the space it needs, and marry it off to a simple dish: agnello al forno, essentially just lamb roasted with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt, and white wine. You could rub some lemon zest or a little anchovy paste into the lamb shoulder for extra depth.