Our Final WIA of 2025 goes to Winemaker of the Year and a name you know oh so well.

Per Robert Parker, “The irrepressible and virtually bigger-than-life Russell Bevan continues to shake things up, not only with his own wines, but also through his consulting work, which has produced a bevy of provocative and high-quality efforts. Few people making wine are more interesting to talk to than Russell Bevan, as his meticulous attention to every detail from rootstocks to clones to the craft of winemaking itself leaves little left to the imagination. One senses that his destiny long ago was to become one of the world’s great craftsmen of wine, and he’s proving it time and time again.”

As The Wine Independent asked a decade later, “What’s the opposite of a shrinking violet? A stampeding rose? Whatever it is, that’s Russell Bevan. Larger than life and known for his pedal-to-the-metal winemaking style, Russell is also an incredibly creative and meticulous winemaker with a keen nose for singular vineyard sites.”

Stu Lerner famously said, “I’ve had a passion for Napa Valley wines for such a long time that if I were ever to make my own, I wanted to try to make the best wine in the world.” So, he called the right guy.

Addax, Adversity, Bevan, Carter, Chase, Elyse, Erba, Harbison, Institution, PerUs, Tench, with such countless 95-100-point wines under his belt, Russell Bevan knows his way around Cult Napa Cab! And this gem of a find, with almost a decade in the winery cellar, down to $90, where it’s never been seen before?! With a highly conservative 96 Points?!

As with many of Bevan’s masterpieces, this wine comes from three epic sites almost synonymous with his name. Tench Vineyard is neighbor to none other than Screaming Eagle. And Sugarloaf enjoys extended hang times leading to that show-stopping, ripe, juicy, and soft style that Bevan is known for! The last one is Lerner’s own Armstrong Ranch, which sits high atop Diamond Mountain.

We obviously were not the only ones impressed with the way this beauty dances across the palate with a stunning balance of bold concentration and lithe finesse, while all “endowed with serious depth, power, and structure” per Jeb Dunnuck. Legend has it that Lerner told his partners, as they decided to launch this label, “if I’m going to do this, the one thing we will never do is compromise on quality.”

Did we mention the original $200 down to $90 today?! Act quickly, we only have a bit left…

96 Points— Jeb Dunnuck “A broader, more expansive wine, it offers a full-bodied, powerful yet surprisingly elegant style to go with sumptuous notes of blackcurrants, blueberries, chocolate, graphite, and earthy minerality. With a great mid-palate, sweet tannins, and terrific concentration, it’s another gem from this lineup. Drink 2019-2034.”