2021 Bevan Cellars Ontogeny Napa Valley 750 ml

When you open a Cabernet from Russell Bevan, you know what you’re getting: A deep, dark blockbuster bursting with audacious aromas, opulent texture and concentration, plus a miles-long finish built on 100% new French oak. 

Bevan is a fourth-generation Californian. Animated, brash, and manifestly intelligent, he has a passion for winemaking that’s powered his meteoric rise to the top of Napa’s luxury ranks. It doesn’t hurt that he was mentored by legends of the craft like the Merlot wizards Jim and Barbara Richards of Paloma and Philip Togni of Togni Vineyards.

Years ago, when we fell in love with his wines, it was reasonable to call Bevan a well-kept secret. No more. Bevan has become one of the hottest winemakers in Napa Valley, and his full-throttle, unapologetic blockbuster reds have now earned 30+ 100-point scores. 

Built on Cabernet, rounded out by the other four Bordeaux grapes, Bevan’s Ontogeny is a brilliantly curated 98-point banger grown primarily on the Tench Vineyard, which sits a seven-iron shot from Screaming Eagle. The site is rich in the volcanic red soil shared by some of the best sites in eastern Oakville, and the front blocks (1A and 1B) near Silverado Trail feature massive stones that tumbled down from Pritchard Hill millennia ago. It looks, in Russell’s words, like Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Not long ago, Lisa Perrotti-Brown—former Wine Advocate chief and founder of The Wine Independent—dedicated an evening to tasting through verticals of Bevan wines and was stopped “in her tracks” by Russell’s preternatural ability to express terroir: “When I can see right through the winemaking and peer into a unique expression of a fruit source of singularity,” she wrote, “it reminds me why I’m here.” 

He’s obsessed with cleanliness and ages his wines in 100% new French oak because he doesn't want to introduce any unknown elements into the wine. Through his devotion to cellar hygiene, Russell is able to add minimal sulfur and bottle his wines unfiltered. These choices contribute to the wonderful mouthfeel that has earned his wines such acclaim, and they offer the clearest possible window into the vineyards where his wines are born.