55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon
Left Bank Red has that familiar old-world, wild berry charm, and pairs it with attractive aromas and flavors of cherry, cedar, coffee bean and minerality. We liken it to a fine red from Bordeaux’s left bank.
“In October 1984, soon after we bought the 35-acre parcel in Conn Valley that is now both our home and principal vineyard, we arranged to meet with a local geologist whose understanding of the soils in the Napa Valley was considered valuable. Using a backhoe, he dug a range of test holes on the property, and analyzed each in detail. His findings supported his report that the ranch would be ideal for both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Further, the parcels uphill from the section of Conn Creek that flowed through our property near its southern boundary were rife with gravel, and would be especially well suited for both. The ranch was a slightly distorted rectangle straddling Conn Creek, and the portion on the left bank of the creek where the gravel deposit was deepest was 400 feet elevation, the lowest on the property. We have since added 10 acres of land to the ranch, and planted vines up to the topmost parcel, an elevation of 1100 feet. The past 40 years have been a ‘Golden Age’ for vineyard knowledge in the Napa Valley, and we’ve learned even more about our soils and their composition. As a result, we’ve been able to match each parcel of land with its ideal counterpart of spacing, rootstock, layout, drainage, and plant material. It’s a different world today. The parcels sitting on the left bank of Conn Creek were planted equally to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and kept separate After more than a decade of making wine from those grapes, we realized that the ideal wine was a blend of the two. This produced a wine that no longer qualified for the use of a varietal name, so we began to refer to it simply as Left Bank Red. The first vintage was singled out by ‘Wine Spectator’ editor Jim Laube as leader of his list of ‘Top Values’ in California Cabernets, scoring it 92 Points, with the note, ‘Puts zesty raspberry and wild berry at the fore for immediate appeal.’ In subsequent vintages the blend has changed from the 50% each in that 2014 Left Bank Red, but we still use the entire crop from both parcels planted in that gravel-rich soil. The 2019 Left Bank Red has that familiar old-world, wild berry charm, and pairs it with attractive elements of cherry, cedar, and minerality. I liken it to a fine red from Bordeaux’s left bank.” —Bruce Neyers
In 1999, Bruce and Barbara Neyers purchased and renovated a winery on a thirty-acre parcel in the Sage Canyon area of Napa Valley. Over the next 14 months they built a modern, highly functional winery designed for traditional winemaking practices. They produced their first vintage in this state of the art facility in 2000. In 2002, Wine and Spirits Magazine named Neyers Vineyards the Artisan Winery of the Year.
About 25% of our production is Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on Bruce and Barbara’s 50-acre, Conn Valley ranch. They purchase additional grapes from a select group of growers, among them the Sangiacomo family of the Carneros District, Will Nord of Napa, the Rossi Ranch of Sonoma County, Markus Bokisch and the Evangelho family.
Even though Neyers Vineyards sits in the heart of the Napa Valley, Bruce's experience with French wine importer Kermit Lynch has had an undeniable influence on their wines. Many of the French producers Bruce has worked with farm organically, make their wines naturally without use of cultured yeast or laboratory designed malo-lactic starter, and bottle their wines without fining or filtration. Neyers barrels are made in France, to our specifications, from wood that we buy in bulk and air dry for three years, two years longer than normal. All of the grapes are picked by hand, into small bins that hold only one-half ton. They are then laboriously hand sorted and inspected at the winery as winemaker Tadeo Borchardt gently guides the winemaking process along. As Bruce says, “No expense has been spared in our grape growing, winemaking practices, or processing equipment, yet customers repeatedly tell us that our wines represent great value in today's highly competitive wine market.” Bruce Neyers produces his own content for the company blog, “Vintner Tales.”
