Dan Posner of Grapes, a Wine Company, in White Plains managed to get Russel Bevan to come to dinner at Frankie and Johnnie’s steakhouse with a motley cru of collectors last night. Unfortunately, He didn’t manage to get Russel’s luggage to the dinner, or apparently to New York at all, so he was adorned with a shirt that looked like it was printed on cloth stuck in an explosion at a paint factory. He reported that he had bought the shirt that day, so I felt sorry for him until this morning, when I looked at his website and it appears that shirts of that ilk are his normal wardrobe. Not really a surprise, I suppose, because the shirts seem to match his extrovert personality. Being the shy retiring type myself, I fully understand.
Now for the wines. Sorry about the unsure vintages on some of the notes below. We submitted an order form and that contained the list of the vintages we tasted. Perhaps someone else there can fill in the blanks or correct my errors.
2018 (!) Bevan Sauvignon Blanc Dry Stack. This may have been the best Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tasted. Bright with nice acidity. Tropical fruits and citrus with perhaps a bit of floral components as well, with the acidity and the minerality from the vineyard creating an outstanding balance. ZERO CAT PEE!!! The wine was “aged” for about 4 months in steel and bottled last week. The production is very small so YOU can’t have any until our order is filled. 
Both 2017 and 2016 (?) Bevan Chardonnay Ritchie These were the only wines I did not like. I have Aubert Ritchie going back to 2004 and I prefer that. Being the shy retiring type, I forced myself to ask Russell about my preference for Aubert. He said that he drank a lot of Aubert and that I should watch out about aging it further back than the 2010 vintage. I commented that the 2004 Aubert Lauren that we had three years ago was perhaps the greatest Cali Chard I have ever had. I will have to teach him about aged Aubert if he returns to NY. Now on to the Adult Beverages . . .
2016 Bevan Sugarloaf Mountain (Right Bank-ish Bordeaux Blend) 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. I really liked this a lot, considering that it was infanticide to drink it and it probably wasn’t showing what it really had to offer. Very complex wine with a blend of assorted red fruits, chocolate and coffee notes. Although giving pleasure now, it will give more in five years, and more than that in 10+
2016 Bevan EE (Left Bank-ish Bordeaux Blend) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot. Nice story. The guy who arranged to get people who could afford it to pre-order so Bevan Cellars could get on its feet had the initials EE, so the wine was named after him. Did I like this better than the Sugarloaf? On sips 1, 3 and 5 it was better. On sips 2, 4 and 6, the Sugarloaf was better. This was more of a bruiser. A big wine but not a tannic mouth-puckering monster. Lots of red fruit and some spice. An outstanding wine.
We also had the Ontogeny (excellent), Tench (very good but not great) and McGah (very good but not great) but I have work to do, so no time to write notes. None of the pinots, but that’s OK. Who wants pinot when you can have great Cali Bordeaux blends?