This wine has a unique freshness brimming with bright red berry fruit and hints of dried fruit. It is flavorful, yet restrained for a CA zin, with black peppercorn spice and hints of chocolate and nuts.
“Soon after we first arrived in California from the east coast, Barbara and I developed a fondness for Zinfandel. I loved the bright freshness that seemed to be a crucial part of the wines made from this grape variety, and it helped that they tended to be soft and immediately attractive as well. The best of them were good with almost anything we cooked, so we drank them often.
I was later discouraged by the craze to make Zinfandel standout by increasing the alcohol level. At Neyers Vineyards we looked for a vineyard that would provide grapes that ripened evenly, and could be harvested at lower sugars. We also wanted fruit that was sufficiently complex for long-term aging. We found it in the Sierra foothill districts of Borden Ranch, Clements Hills, and Mokelumne River, three areas grouped around Lodi. Here in the eastern sector of San Joaquin County where the foothills begin, the soils are light and sandy, while nutrients and crop levels are low. The Sierra Rotor effect—a wind phenomenon that draws cool Pacific Ocean air to the region—keeps temperatures moderate. We found vineyards planted to heirloom selections of Zinfandel, with small, even-ripening clusters that give us our targeted low alcohol levels.
We ferment our Zinfandel using a long skin-contact maceration—generally 45 days or so—which results in a softer, less tannic wine. We use only native wild yeast, and natural lactic acid bacteria to promote the secondary or malo-lactic fermentation. The fermentation tank is then drained and the grapes pressed, and the new wine goes directly into neutral 60-gallon French oak barrels. Clarification is entirely natural, so after a year of barrel aging, the wine is bottled without fining or filtration. The soils of these vineyards at the base of the foothills tend to be gravelly and rocky as well, so we find traces of mineral among the many fruit components in the flavor. Veteran wine writer Randy Caparoso summed it up well when he wrote: ‘The Neyers 2019 Vista Notre Zinfandel is brimming with bright red berry fruit, while bristling with black peppercorn spice.’ "—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.”
