Anyone buying? They are only offering 3 wines due to the difficulties of the vintage.
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Went in for Crane & Ontogeny
Crane and the Cab Franc here
Anyone concerned and skipping’22?
Why concerned?
Bevan Cellars released no wine in 2020. That decision cost the winery millions. For me, Russell has 100% credibility. If he releases wine, it’s going to be very good. Idk if the unprecedented, excessive heat could effect the ability of the wine to age. That’s above my pay grade.
More generally, because of what I heard about the vintage, I had decided to skip the vintage until I visited Napa last month and tasted some 2022s.
Of the 28 wines I tasted across multiple vintages, my favorite was 2022 Pezzato Cabernet Sauvignon I Nonni. It is a joint venture of Andrea and Michael Savaiano. Michael worked with Russell. He also a background in vineyard management. It is Michael who introduced Bevan to the Sugarloaf Vineyard. That worked out pretty well!
The 2021 received 99 points from Dunnuck and is outstanding but needs time or a healthy decant. If you like Bevan, you will like Pezzzato. The 2022 is better for drinking young. It’s release is expected in the next few months.
Production was less than 40 cases. If you join the list I pricing is unchanged from the 2021 at $140. I’ll be asking for 6 bottles but will probably only get 3.
The Napa Cab is also a ridiculous value. I’m not sure if any of the Pezzato’s 2021s are still available.
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Didn’t 22 have a heat spike? Plus Bevan is only offering 3 wines because it was difficult.
I trust Russell, he’s earned it.
I trust him too.
Thanks for the thoughts on the '22 Pezzato, Mark. I’m curious where else you tasted '22s and if any others stood out to you?
Similar to 2020, some wineries made just Napa Valley Cabernet vs. various vineyard designates, so the “blended bottling” usually hit above its average. Sounds the same for Ontogeny. Gonna grab some for sure!
Andrew- The other 2022s I was excited to add to my cellar were from Fait-Main.
The Napa and Missouri Hopper Cabernets were excellent.
I had bought a 3 pack of each previous to tasting and bought 1 1/2 cases of MH.
They still offered it to me at the pre-release price of $125 and I jumped on it.
Fyi, I still prefer the Pezzato offerings but both wineries offer great value to my palate.
For those interested in whites, I had a 2023 Chenin, a rather rare varietal in Napa.
Made by Caitlin and Quentin Lhommeau, L’Envolee wines is there joint venture coupling Caitlins experience with Russell Bevan and Quentin’s French heritage.Caitlin has the reputation of a rising superstar. Btw, I was told the same thing about Benoit Touquette when I met him in 2007.
Caitlin’s style is more classic. While offering similar expertise in developing texture and tannin management that bevan is known for, her wines are more reserved, more French, if you will.
She told me she was able to source near 25% of Napa’s total Chenin harvest in 2023 to make her wine. It’s exquisite and reasonably priced. Her 2021 Cabernet is wonderful but I’m not opening any for 5 years.
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Thanks, Mark, that’s all very helpful. I’m on the L’Envolee list and buy their cabs, but haven’t tried their Chenin Blanc. Sounds like that’s something I should remedy. I recently joined the Fait Main list but have yet to purchase. The combination of a full cellar and rising costs across the board (wines and shipping) have given me some pause about adding new wineries to the rotation without culling some of the old favorites. I will probably let a few go this fall and I’ll likely give Fait Main a try at that point.
Speaking of Chenin Blanc, I hear Pezzato will be offering theirs in the late summer / early fall offering. Have you had a chance to try their version?
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I have not tasted Pezzato’s Chenin. It will be interesting to compare it to L’Envolee’s.
2021 was the first vintage I bought while on the Fait-Main’s list.
I forgot to mention I recently tasted 2022 Memento Mori Flagship Cab from a shiner.
I bought it because I felt obligated to. It’s very good but I can’t recommend it because of its price.
Mark, thank you for the kind note. The 2022 vintage was perhaps the toughest that I’ve experienced in my winegrowing/winemaking career (been doing this since the '05 vintage). What was shaping up to be a relatively mild year in the Napa Valley was thrown off course by mother nature around labor day with a heat dome engulfing the Napa Valley and sustained temperatures of 120*+ F for multiple days. I’ve never seen temperatures like that, let alone for that long, in the Napa Valley before.
In 2022 we were only sourcing fruit from Phelan Ranch, located on a ridge top up above Lake Hennessey. Jeff Phelan and his vineyard manager, Armando Hernandez, are seasoned professionals and, as such, we had a plan in place to deal with the heat as best we could. We irrigated in advance of the heat, applied shade cloth and, perhaps the biggest advantage for us, utilized the micro mister sprinklers that Phelan Ranch has installed on every block of fruit that they have planted. Post heat spike Armando and his crews dropped any severely dehydrated fruit. In the winery, we knew that this vintage was going to take extra attention and care and I’m proud to say that we did not experience any issues with our fermentations. I owe a lot of credit to Armando at Phelan Ranch for his diligent adherence to a sound plan for mitigating possible issues that could have been caused by the heat event.
I’m more than pleased with how the '22’s have turned out and early feedback from tasters has been good. It’s a vintage that shows bright fruit forward wines. If any Berserkers find themselves in the Napa Valley I’m always happy to get together and taste on our current offerings, which for now are the '22 wines. We’re sold out of all prior vintages, including the '21’s.
Cheers,
Michael
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Mark and Andrew:
No Chenin from Pezzato. I don’t think that we’re going to get into the white wine game anytime soon.
Cheers,
Michael
Bevan’s 2020 was very good, but not up to his normal standard. I’m glad I have a case.
Forgive me. I should have stated that Bevan Cellars released no red wines in 2020.
I was being a little smart-assed there. Bevan bulked out his reds in 2020. de Negoce #400 is Bevan Tench 2020. Great wine, but not up to Bevans own standard. Very much worth the $25 it cost though.
Sorry, I misspoke when I said I heard you were releasing a Chenin Blanc this fall. It’s Zeitgeist who I was thinking of.
Thanks for the details on your approach to '22, Michael. I look forward to trying them down the road.
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