2013 Ontogeny Proprietary Red is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Petit Verdot, and 10% Cabernet Franc, coming from some of Russell Bevan’s favorite vineyard sources – Sugarloaf Mountain, Two Dogs, Tin Box and Tench. Quite flavorful, it is exhibiting slightly more new oak than some of the other cuvées, but is still sexy and opulent, with voluptuous texture, low acidity, and oodles of juicy, succulent black and red fruits, licorice, underbrush and a touch of vanillin. An already irresistible beauty, it can be drunk over the next 20 years. — 8 months ago
Bright and crisp. — 5 years ago
Lovely complex Pinot while celebrating bean’s birthday! — 3 months ago
Fantastic at eight years old! Vibrant dark/red fruit… a touch of thyme and a pinch of rosemary. Michael Shaps built this and you can tell. Fantastic attack (cherry sweetness) and the mid palate is just a tango of balance (slightly stewed fruit and herbs)…
Medium finish but delightful in staying inside the boundaries for what this wine is meant to do — 8 months ago
Unbelievable perfect 57%Cab Franc- 43% Merlot blend from Russell Bevan. A fruit forward version if a Cheval Blanc from St.Emilion! Full bodied rich stewed black and blue fruits with hints of mint and herbs, lavender and fully textured with a 1-minute long intense finish. Can’t imagine a better red wine. — 4 years ago
Slightly hazy (unfined?) gold. Abundant nose of honeyed tropical fruits, baked apple, and vanilla tinged orange crème. Full-bodied palate of cooked pineapple, baked apple, hint of orange, yellow lilies, and… how does one say “baseball bat” only subtly? Another quintessential Russell Bevan white that’s a monster in body, but velvet on the palate. A big wine that begs for big, complex dishes. My drinking partner (who suggested the wine was like an Adele song… you think it’s going to be a rustic stumble, but it clearly has much more going on) made an incredible pork loin, root vegetable, and apple entrée that was right where a dish should be to stand up to this wine. Similar dishes will work. Not your grandmother’s Chardonnay. Drink now through 2023. — 5 years ago
Peter van den Besselaar
Vintage 2020 | WOTN | Beautiful wine: rosemary, raspberry, cigarbox, piment. Nice complexity, refinement and elegance. — 3 months ago