Bevan Cellars

Bevan Cellars is one of the hottest cult wine producers to emerge from Napa Valley in the 21st century, a label that has accumulated a staggering number of perfect and near-perfect scores through wines of explosive intensity sourced from some of the valley's most legendary vineyard sites. Founded in 2005 by Russell Bevan, a former furniture maker who taught himself winemaking with an autodidact's obsessive determination, the label has risen from obscurity to elite status with a speed that has few precedents in the valley.

The winery owns no vineyards, sourcing from established grower partners whose sites include some of the most famous addresses in Napa Valley: Beckstoffer's To Kalon, Dr. Crane, and Missouri Hopper; the Tench Vineyard in Oakville; and mountain sources on Howell Mountain and Spring Mountain. This negociant approach, executed at the highest level, gives Bevan access to fruit that most estate wineries can only envy. The vineyard relationships have been built over years and are maintained through the kind of mutual respect that only consistent quality engenders.

Russell Bevan makes the wines himself, producing a portfolio of single-vineyard and proprietary bottlings that showcase each source's terroir at maximum intensity. The Tench Vineyard Cabernet, from Oakville, is powerful and polished. The Ontogeny red blend combines lots from multiple sites for a wine of layered complexity. The EE Tench Cabernet, the most extracted and concentrated wine in the portfolio, pushes ripeness to its absolute limit. The wines are unapologetically bold, and they have been rewarded with scores that have made the mailing list one of the most sought-after in the valley.

Bevan Cellars does not maintain a traditional tasting room. The wines are available through a mailing list that has grown rapidly as critical acclaim has built the brand's reputation. Occasional tasting events and private appointments provide access for visitors, but for most collectors, Bevan is experienced through the bottle. Prices range from $75 to $175, reflecting the premium vineyard sources and the critical acclaim.

Bevan's meteoric rise demonstrates that the American dream of the self-taught craftsman remains alive in Napa Valley. Russell Bevan had no family connections to the wine industry, no formal training, and no inherited vineyards. What he had was talent, drive, and the ability to recognize great fruit. The wines he produces from that fruit have earned the respect of critics and collectors who care about what is in the glass rather than what is on the resume.