Russell Bevan new project: Adversity Cellars

Russell Bevan just launched a new project called Adversity Cellars with his wife Heidi. They are offering three single vineyard cabs from Erba, Melanson, and Sage Ridge.

Has anyone tried these? Any feedback on how they compare to Bevan Cellars wines?

I purchased the Sage Ridge and Melanson based on the descriptions provided by Russell and recently added to their website. I don’t know how they compare to Bevan Cellars but I love Russell’s style of wine making and was willing to dip my toes in the water based on my prior experiences with his wines. Looking forward to this new project.

Also very interested, thought it was curious that they released their 19’s so early

Gentlemen,

Thank you for mentioning the our new project. We are releasing the wines early purely out of financial reasons. The 2019 vintage is incredibly concentrated and deep. Each of our sites naturally de-vigors the vines and these wines ideally would have sat another 12 to 18 months before release. Unfortunately, with Covid and restrictions being what they are we had no chance to barrel taste or get the word out about the project. I’ve never felt comfortable using a mailing list from one brand to support another so we made the decision to release the wines earlier than we would have ideally done so. I was confident enough to do this as we have just bottled them and I know the quality of the wine in the bottle.

Not trying to make a sales pitch, just explain the reasoning.

All the best,
Russell Bevan
Adversity Cellars
Bevan Cellars

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Russell

Apologies, I completely missed your response! The logic does in fact make perfect sense and was seemingly a very nice pivot when faced with the Covid restrictions.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

Best
Jake

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A local wine group I’m a part of had the pleasure of welcoming Russell & Heidi as they opened the wines from their label, Adversity Cellars. For those who know Russell, he’s able to energize a room with his fun personality, and it was a treat to meet Heidi who is very sweet, and hear her side of the winemaking with working alongside Russell.

While Russell’s signature silky tannins are evident here, these aren’t typical Bevan Cellars wines. They are definitely their own style.

These were my thoughts:
All three wines were 2019, just bottled 4-6 weeks ago.

Sage Ridge was the most tightly coiled, almost young Bordeaux like in the sense that it wasn’t overly primary on just fruit. Herbs, tobacco leaf, underripe red and black fruit. Graphite too. Needs the most time out of the three we tried tonight…but again, these are 2019 Napa cabs!

Melanson was typical/classic Pritchard Hill. So much sweet and ripe red and black fruits with chocolate. It’s opulent without sacrificing structure. To put it simply, it’s Bevan wine from Pritchard Hill…it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Erba was probably my favorite. I’ve never had a cab wine like this out of Napa before. It smells like a Syrah. It’s gamey, feral and wild. 75cab/25petit Verdot. It has so much bull-in-a-china-shop material to it. Savory and very complex. If you enjoy northern Rhône wines, this is your Napa cab. A wine that everyone seemed to be talking about.

If you enjoy Bevan Cellars wines, you’ll find a lot to like here. If you enjoy Melanson vineyard, you’ll find a lot to like here. If you’re curious about Erba vineyard (Russell utilizes the fruit for a few labels), this will undoubtedly take you on a wild ride. Russell & Heidi did a wonderful job of putting wine in to bottle that speaks to the site.

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For those interested in learning more… we are hosting a virtual conversation/tasting with Russell about Adversity Cellars and specifically about Melanson. Russell will be joined by Tor Kenwood; they both make a Melanson Cab. Details here: Zoom - Russell Bevan (Adversity) & Tor Kenwood February 18 @ 6pm PT - Commerce Corner - Wine Classifieds - WineBerserkers

Event is free. There are special bottles from both (signed!) for sale which you can buy/not buy or drink/not drink. Feel free to just attend and listen in. It’s interactive so you can ask questions, too!

Wineaccess is selling all Adversity labels at mailer prices.
I have two accounts. One was offering 15% off and the other one 20% off. Add that to the 20 off 200 Amex was giving plus free shipping. I got an Erba plus a 2018 Ontogeny for about the same cost of just one bottle of Adversity. I’ve gotten a few orders of 18 Ontogeny with similar discounts as well. Not sure who get the discounts applied to their accounts but makes for a nice deal. Had a 2014 Ontogeny last night. Love Russels wines. May grab more Adversity once I see some tasting notes.

Thanks for the heads-up. I previously purchased the Sage Ridge and Melanson directly from Adversity. Glad I can round out the trio with a nice discount on the Erba ($30 off Wine Access + $20 off Amex). Looking forward to trying these wines.

My guess is if we buy from WineAccess we will not be privy to Adversity Cellars’ Syrah and blend coming out. Thoughts from the brain trust? I love Bevan’s wines so either way I’ll likely purchase.

At this early stage in the project combined with the economic conditions, I wouldn’t think that buying from other outlets would restrict you? The Wineaccess referral bonus, amex offers and such are limited in uses, so you could augment your winery direct purchase with those savings from WA. Given that wineaccess will also give you free shipping, seems much more appealing than buying direct

I ordered one of each on WineAccess and hope Bevan sees this and will grant me access to the Papas next year!

Ha! Same! picked up one each. Excited to try.