Why doesn’t Bevan sell out?

[MiranK]

In my humble opinion, Russell Bevan is one of the super star winemakers out there. Total passion. With some of the best wines on Planet Earth. Some of them have completely blown me away. Utter world-class. Prices like that are not cheap - for me - being a simple teacher but in comparison, given the stellar wines, I would say that his prices are very reasonable compared to the somewhat astronomical price tag I see on certain Napa wines. Again, only my two cents.

[David_Bu3ker]

I am actually surprised that Ontogeny doesn’t sell out. It’s basically half the price of the SVDs, and 99% of the quality. No it’s not quite as “distinctive,” but it’s an amazing wine.

[MICHAEL_C_R_O_M_W_E_L_L]

So this topics piqued my curiosity a bit. I pulled my actual cost data for a number of wines and to keep it apples to apples, I pulled Dr. Crane data for 2016-2018. Myriad was the only Dr. Crane priced lower than Bevan. Arrow & Branch and Alpha Omega were comparable. Memento Mori/Vice Versa/Realm all significantly higher.

You can run similar data for the Tench vineyard. Tench, Bevan, Stones, Riverain, Lerner, Addax, PerUs all make a Tench wine. I think Resolution and Pezzato are Tench also. I believe Riverain is the only Tench SVD priced below $195 at release (Pezzato and Resolution too if they’re technically SVD). If there are other Tench SVDs at below Bevan pricing, lemme know—I love Tench bargains.

Back to the original question—why doesn’t Bevan sell out? It does. 2018’s—Dr. Crane, Saunders Cab Franc, Calixtro, and Sentinel Ridge are sold out.

[David_Crow]

Anyone interested in Bevan’s wines should watch this video of him talking to Tor Kenward. The two of them aren’t shy about where they disagree on issues like the benefits of co-fermentation.

- YouTube

[cherylfoil]

You can run similar data for the Tench vineyard. Tench, Bevan, Stones, Riverain, Lerner, Addax, PerUs all make a Tench wine. I think Resolution and Pezzato are Tench also. I believe Riverain is the only Tench SVD priced below $195 at release (Pezzato and Resolution too if they’re technically SVD). If there are other Tench SVDs at below Bevan pricing, lemme know—I love Tench bargains.

Addax is $185 (which is splitting hairs). I don’t know where Caitlin Lhommeau sources, but for others on the thread, she’s the assistant winemaker at Tench and now has her own brand, Resolution, at $125. Caitlin is wonderful and earned 97 JD on her first release!

DuMOL has a Tench, but I can’t find the release price. Alpha Omega works with Tench, but I don’t know if it will be a SVD.

[Ian_Dorin]

DuMOL has a Tench, but I can’t find the release price. Alpha Omega works with Tench, but I don’t know if it will be a SVD.

Says $180 on Vinous, but I’m 99% sure it’s mailing list only. If that’s the case, they can keep the price humble, but also means Bevan takes a hit since the wines are distributed.

[markjchambers]

There is a current thread about Scarecrow. The current release will price at $400 or more. There is not a straight up comparison with Bevan, but is Scarecrow 2x better? I can think of a dozen Napa producers that run >$400. Colgin, Hundred Acre, Bond, Harlan, etc… Are they 2x to 4x better than Bevan?

[Dan_Hammer]

I raised this question on a Realm thread and got a few responses. The prevalent thought was that Bevan is not as well known as Realm or other high end Napa cabs. If Bevan’s production is 8000 cases (as mentioned here), I’m sure that’s higher that Realm and most high end producers and speaks to greater availability. But $195 for SV cabs, like Dr. Crane, is a bargain. People used to praise Schrader for staying below $200. They aren’t there any more. If there is a better QPR for Napa cabs that routinely get scores in the high 90’s and sometimes 100, I 'd like to hear about it. And you can can actually buy Bevan wines.

Carter
Maybach
MACDONALD

[Dave_McIsaac]

There is a current thread about Scarecrow. The current release will price at $400 or more. There is not a straight up comparison with Bevan, but is Scarecrow 2x better? I can think of a dozen Napa producers that run >$400. Colgin, Hundred Acre, Bond, Harlan, etc… Are they 2x to 4x better than Bevan?

Current Scarecrow release price is $450

[J_Rock]

While I get that this is a place for wine discussion, so this topic is certainly fair game, why do you care whether it sells out or why it doesn’t sell out? I’m genuinely curious.

[David_Bu3ker]

While I get that this is a place for wine discussion, so this topic is certainly fair game, why do you care whether it sells out or why it doesn’t sell out? I’m genuinely curious.

Why do you care that someone is curious?

[Eric_Werner]

I would like to taste Bevan blind with some of these other producers. But from a dollar perspective, there are other amazing wines for less money. The $175 price point (sure, only $20 less) seems to have a bunch of options if you are on the list: Greer, Piper, Pott, MacDonald for example. I dropped off Schrader as it went over $200, and as my cellar fills, I will drop off even more at that price point. Really, how many $150-$200+ Napa cabs do you need? Plus, with good vintages, it seems like the blends or second wines are where the value is: Pott, Bevan, Blankiet, Realm, and others have a wine around or under $100. The Bevan wines I have had have all been great, and some Ontogeny wines have made me wonder why I need to pay for the SVDs. That said, the Greer I had the other night was as good a wine I have had in a while, and the Piper I had last year was amazing. Why spend that extra $20?

[FMansfield]

Anyone interested in Bevan’s wines should watch this video of him talking to Tor Kenward. The two of them aren’t shy about where they disagree on issues like the benefits of co-fermentation.

- YouTube

What a great video!

[FMansfield]

I raised this question on a Realm thread and got a few responses. The prevalent thought was that Bevan is not as well known as Realm or other high end Napa cabs. If Bevan’s production is 8000 cases (as mentioned here), I’m sure that’s higher that Realm and most high end producers and speaks to greater availability. But $195 for SV cabs, like Dr. Crane, is a bargain. People used to praise Schrader for staying below $200. They aren’t there any more. If there is a better QPR for Napa cabs that routinely get scores in the high 90’s and sometimes 100, I 'd like to hear about it. And you can can actually buy Bevan wines.

Carter
Maybach
MACDONALD

Cannot wait to taste MACDONALD. Just was able to purchase Maybach and need to let it rest first. Carter is really good.

[Russell_R_Bevan]

Sorry it took me so long to address this. There are several factors, in no specific order: we make a lot of wines. Some vintages we have over 10 Cabernet and Bordx varietal blends, with many over 400 case productions and some well over that. We are an incredibly small army. Until we added Theo a month ago we only had Pumpkin working directly with customers. Our outreach was limited to a couple of small road shows that we hosted, but that was it. We lack a facility where we can host people. The Tench winery is a perfect winemaking facility, but we never created a tasting room or an environment to host people, all of the investment was directed at making the best wines possible. Then there is me, I struggle to talk and present the wines. I love talking about winemaking, vineyard management, wines from the world, but I take my wines to personal and I don’t always do a good job explaining them, so I avoid doing it. Ask me about stripping leaves at bloom and I can talk for ever, ask me if I have a favorite Bevan Cellars wine and I crawl into a hole.

All the best,
Russell Bevan
Bevan Cellars

[J_Rock]

While I get that this is a place for wine discussion, so this topic is certainly fair game, why do you care whether it sells out or why it doesn’t sell out? I’m genuinely curious.

Why do you care that someone is curious?

I don’t care. I just don’t understand.

[FMansfield]

While I get that this is a place for wine discussion, so this topic is certainly fair game, why do you care whether it sells out or why it doesn’t sell out? I’m genuinely curious.

Why do you care that someone is curious?

I don’t care. I just don’t understand.

Thank you Russell. Not that selling out is the absolute goal, but I bet your reach will expand due to Wineberserkers. It great that winemakers respond on here.

[HoosJustinG]

I raised this question on a Realm thread and got a few responses. The prevalent thought was that Bevan is not as well known as Realm or other high end Napa cabs. If Bevan’s production is 8000 cases (as mentioned here), I’m sure that’s higher that Realm and most high end producers and speaks to greater availability. But $195 for SV cabs, like Dr. Crane, is a bargain. People used to praise Schrader for staying below $200. They aren’t there any more. If there is a better QPR for Napa cabs that routinely get scores in the high 90’s and sometimes 100, I 'd like to hear about it. And you can can actually buy Bevan wines.

Carter
Maybach
MACDONALD

I’d add Kinsman Eades, though obviously a newer project. And I think Bevan is right up there with them. Either way, somebody can buy Bevan Dr Crane at release for list price even if they’ve never bought a Bevan wine in their life. If you sign up for Realm’s list today, you’re almost certainly several years out from buying Crane and may well never get it unless you buy a bunch of other wines first.

[NickRut]

I’m mad at myself for only getting 3 of the 18 Crane. Won’t make that mistake again with the 19s.

Bevan is up there for qpr at this price range. There is a lot of good wine at this price coming from Napa. I usually take Bevan for granted because it doesn’t sell out as fast. Definitely great juice though.

[larry_schaffer]

So as I said above, I have the greatest respect for what Russell has built. I do find it ‘interesting’ that a $180 or $195 wine would be considered a ‘good QPR’, but I understand it is in relation to other wines coming out of the same Vineyard. All of that said, are we talking ‘apples to apples’ here? Just because the grapes come from the same Vineyard site, are the wines ‘similar enough’ to make the QPR statement? Not trying to stir things up - just trying to understand more. Cheers.