Rita's Crown Pinot Noir
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 3–10 years from vintage release.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
roasted duck, seared salmon, wild mushroom risotto
✨ Technical Specifications
Sourced from one of the most prestigious high-elevation sites in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, Bevan Cellars' Rita's Crown Pinot Noir showcases the dramatic interplay of extreme maritime influence and rugged terroir. Perched high on steep, wind-swept slopes, the vineyard's soils are rich in diatomaceous earth, forcing the vines to struggle and produce tiny, highly concentrated berries. Winemaker Russell Bevan applies his signature philosophy of maximizing physiological ripeness to this cool-climate site, resulting in a Pinot Noir of extraordinary power, depth, and structural intensity. This wine beautifully marries the signature Sta. Rita Hills vibrant acidity and saline minerality with Bevan's hallmark lush, opulent fruit profile.
🍾 About the Producer
Bevan Cellars was founded in 2005 by self-taught winemaker Russell Bevan, quickly ascending to cult status within California's fine wine landscape. Celebrated for an unabashedly opulent, hedonistic, and precision-driven winemaking style, Bevan partners with premier growers across premier microclimates in Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Sourcing spans esteemed terroirs such as eastern Oakville's red volcanic and alluvial soils at Tench Vineyard, the rocky slopes of Sugarloaf Mountain, and cool maritime sites in the Russian River Valley and Petaluma Gap. Viticulture emphasizes meticulous canopy control and sustainable vineyard management, harvesting fruit at optimal physiological ripeness. In the cellar, Bevan employs minimal intervention, indigenous fermentations, squeaky-clean sorting regimens, and customized French oak aging. Benchmark bottlings include his single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons such as Tench Vineyard and Sugarloaf Mountain, proprietary red blends like Ontogeny and EE, alongside textural, vibrant Sonoma Coast Chardonnays and Ritchie Vineyard expressions.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir