Californian Neyers makes delicious, high-quality wine

Over the many years I have been in the wine industry, one of the most influential minds I have encountered is Bruce Neyers. I consider him a “wine Yoda.”

When I met Neyers in the early 1980s, he was general manager of Joseph Phelps winery in the Napa Valley. At that time, Phelps was among the vanguard wineries not only of Napa Valley, but all of California. A decade earlier they had excelled with riesling and were one of the first to grow and produce top-quality syrah.

They also launched a cabernet-based red wine blend called Insignia that helped kick-start a new category of California reds: Meritage. This category would allow California wineries to blend Bordeaux grape varieties, just as was commonly done in Bordeaux, France, in an effort to produce higher-quality, more worldly wines. (Meritage was the beginning of a new genre of “super” red wines; these would later include Opus One and Dominus.)

Yes, Neyers was a busy man, and the Joseph Phelps winery was certainly a game-changer. For most folks a career that included Joseph Phelps would be enough of a legacy. But for Neyers there was more to come.

With the 1992 vintage, Bruce and Barbara Neyers bought the Neyers label from Joseph Phelps and launched their own namesake winery and label. The first wine I tasted from this new project was the 1992 Neyers Merlot, which I still consider one of the finest red wines I have had out of the valley.

In 1992 Neyers became the national sales manager for Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, one of the pioneers of importing artisan, boutique wines from France (and now Italy). His work took him to France several times a year to visit wineries and their vineyards, and to taste wines made by French superstars. The exposure influenced Neyers, and he produced better and better wines each year.

Today, because of his rich experience — more than 40 years in California which includes 25 years of working with the best French artisan producers — Neyers is delivering some of the top wines of California, under the watchful eye of winemaker Tadeo Borchardt. I am in awe of their use of fruit from heirloom vines, their sustainable farming practices and their craftsmanship, executed without additions of enhancers.

Considering the staunch principles and resulting high quality of their products, Neyers wines are well underpriced. Consider these selections.

2016 Neyers Chardonnay “304” (about $25 a bottle): On one of his many wine trips to France, winemaker Borchardt was taken by a couple of chardonnays from the Chablis region. These white wines reflected the minerality of the soils in which the grapes were grown, and somehow this characteristic had made its way from the root system into the fruit itself. The wines were surprisingly light-bodied, breathtakingly ethereal, crisp and refreshing. These qualities reveal why, in the old days, French Chablis was commonly served with raw oysters — it functions like a squeeze of lemon that highlights and enhances the delicacy of a fresh, raw, high-quality oyster.

This “304” bottling is an homage to that concept. While most of today’s chardonnay renditions emphasize the chardonnay varietal fruit characteristics (and perhaps the oak barrel it has been aged in), the “304” is instead all about the essence of the soil, done with a captivating purity and compelling mojo. The wine is fermented with wild yeasts and is typically bottled unfiltered and unfined (with no agents added to remove tiny solids and improve clarity). This is a stellar chardonnay ideal for warm-weather enjoyment.

2015 Neyers “Sage Canyon” (about $25): This absolutely delicious, intriguing, wonderfully food-friendly red wine lies somewhere between pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon in its weight, drama, mojo and masculinity.

It is in many ways a tribute to Maxime Magnon, a revolutionary grape grower and winemaker of southern France. It starts with vines as old as 130 years (Carignane) and is produced by foot-stomping the harvested grapes, a gentle way of releasing their juice. It undergoes wild-yeast fermentation and is bottled unfiltered and unfined. The resulting red is simply unique and over-delivers in a big way for its price.

Chuck Furuya is a master sommelier and a partner in the DK Restaurants group. Follow his blog at chuckfuruya.com.