Wine Doctrine
2012

Bevan Cellars Ontogeny

Tasted 23 January 2017 California · Napa Valley

NOW we are back in business with this wine! On 5/8/2016 I had the 2012 Ontogeny and it was extremely tight and fairly unforgiving. I was a bit worried this was going into a prolonged transitional phase, as its tannic,…

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Tasting history

This bottle, other nights

19 June 2020 Because I've reviewed this wine a ton of times, I'll simply add that there were slight pyrazine and green peppercorn flavors that came from this… 25 April 2019 Same as last year. Performs like a champ after a few hours of air. I'll try to hold another 8-12 months just to really optimize its drinking window.… 23 August 2018 Same as 8 months ago. Drinking solid on PnP, with some slight acidic constriction on the back end with the initial pull. Improved/deepened more with… 23 January 2018 A great showing. One of the best Ontogenys I've had. The 2012 vintage is THE vintage for Ontogeny without a doubt. All previous notes apply. Service… 12 July 2017 Same as my previous notes from 01/23/2017. Scrap the decant and stick with PnP. This doesn't need extra air or any kind of extended decant in my… 8 May 2016 PnP with coiled-up flavors of purple berry and black licorice notes. A good dose of alcohol and a tart aftertaste that made me wonder if this bottle… 26 November 2015 Similar to all of my notes on this wine in terms of flavor profile, but I bumped this up a number of points to 97. Slow O2 for two hours this time… 20 October 2015 Still holds similar to my previous CT notes from 8/8/15 and 7/4/15. No decant this time; PnP at cellar temperature, with that distinct cool black… 8 August 2015 Similar notes as 7/4/15. At the request of friends (as I think this still needs a couple of years to fully integrate), opened a bottle and decanted… 4 July 2015 Tasted multiple times over the course of the last few months. Give this at least an hour decant to truly give it a chance to express itself (even…
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