Adversity 2021 Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

98 pts                                                         

Rare new small-production Cabernet from Russell Bevan. Limited.

98 Points Robert Parker: "From a relatively large vineyard (60 planted acres, selling to multiple wineries) overlooking Lake Hennessy, Adversity's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Sage Ridge Vineyard is another star in the making. Complex aromas of licorice, dark loam, sage, cassis and black cherries mark the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and intense but balanced—not overdone and not overripe—finishing long and velvety.

...Adversity Cellars is the husband-and-wife label of Russell and Heidi Bevan. Sourcing fruit from some of the same vineyards he taps for his other labels, Bevan has turned out a bevy of high-quality wines. For those unfamiliar with Bevan's winemaking style, these are rich, full-throttle red wines made from vineyards chosen/managed for lower-than-average yields, picked at high levels of ripeness, fermented using a yeast strain originally isolated from Williams Selyem and aged in high proportions of new French oak—Taransaud and Darnajou for the Bordeaux varieties. Somehow, despite pushing the various elements to the max, the wines emerge with a delicious sense of harmony and balance."

Adversity Cellars is a project from Russell and Heidi Bevan that is designed to showcase sites that have unique flavor and textural profiles from vineyards whose location forces the vines to struggle for their existence; forcing them to deal with great Adversity.