Between The Wines July 2022
hidden Treasures
Hidden Treasures
Trends & observations
What's New
As stated previously, our book is so full of great wines, sometimes a great producer can get overlooked, hence our ‘Hidden Treasures’ feature. Sometimes good juice goes unnoticed. A great example is Neyers Vineyards. To say Bruce Neyers has a pedigree, would be an understatement (ditto for his wife Barbara). After spending his young adulthood in the military— stationed in S. Korea where he was turned on to French wine—he was transferred to The Presidio in San Francisco (lucky boy!). That proximity led him to Napa Valley and the wine business once he left the army. Eventually he joined the new Joseph Phelps winery where he worked for 17 years, ending up as their General Manager, where he was heavily involved in the creation of ‘Insignia’, Napa’s first meritage wine. Upon leaving Phelps, Bruce became the first National Sales Manager for an up-and-coming importer named Kermit Lynch.
At that same time, Barbara was first chef, and then the General Manager of a little restaurant in Berkeley named Chez Panisse (which almost single-handedly changed the way American ate). Along the way, Bruce & Barbara acquired some vineyard land and built a winery. Being an early participant in Napa’s boom meant he had a lot of like-minded friends: his winery was designed by Ehren Jordan of the now renowned Failla Wines (and was also Bruce’s first winemaker). His first vineyard was planted by a little-known vineyardist named David Abreu (who is hardly little-known today!). But Bruce and Barbara both had day jobs, so they quietly made unique, expressive wines that reflected the Neyers’ love of European wine…which was not the fashion at the time.
Continued..
Quotation of the Month: “Nothing makes the future look so rosy as to contemplate it through a glass of Chambertin.” ― Napoleon Bonaparte