Manoj Ambalavanan

9.0

Really well bodied and balanced merlot. Would rec. — 5 years ago

Michael Herzog

8.9

Cali, but still tasty! — 7 years ago

with Judy

Michael Phillips

9.5

Smooth and velvety. Lots of dark fruit.
really good wine! — 7 years ago

David Moffat

9.3

Silky smooth cherry with hints of currant. Almost had a Bordeaux gym-shoe taste that takes this wine to another level. 2006 vintage was marvelous. — 8 years ago

Anthony A Minne

9.2

Perfect pizza wine! Shows how great the 2015 vintage is for entry level wines. Thanks Bruce Neyers for showing me how to drink Beaujolais. — 8 years ago

Chris Cass

9.2

Thank you Bruce Neyers — 9 years ago

Matt Sterr

9.2

Dark and inky. Black tar, Chinese ink. 140 year old vines. — 9 years ago

Peggy Hadley

9.3

We cooked with this bottle — 9 years ago

with David, Jim and 1 other

Jocholla

9.1

Blueberry pie, vanilla, toast. — 5 years ago

Rhonely Boy

9.2

Clear deep red-violet Boysenberry on sight

Clean sandy berry aroma

Dry, med+ acidity, fine tannin, lighter side of medium body, red fruit and dark berry in the finish. Delicious now, could age. Needs a nice decant, great to watch evolve in glass too (air wakes up the tannins and elevates the red fruit notes)

Hooray and Keep up the good work 140+ yr old vines!
— 5 years ago

Gregory Knaps

9.5

1999. Big thank you to Bruce Neyers for this treat. Drinking extremely well. Was drained pretty quickly but it still had a chance to blossom. Wow wine. — 8 years ago

Kris Feavel

9.0

Good, easy drinkable table wine — 8 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.4

That's my new favorite Merlot. Used to drink the Neyers Merlot but that went bye bye. Hello Matthiasson. — 8 years ago

with Ryan and Damon

Chris Cass

9.5

Took ages to open up, very linear, mineral, shelly. Gorgeous with time, fattened up considerably, all lemon cream and tree fruit. Thank you Bruce Neyers — 9 years ago

Darren Guillaume

9.1

This Mourvèdre has a wonderful presentation. Nice venosity of red and black fruits, light chocolate and spice. Taste baked red cherry, blackberry, black currant, spices and pepper. Acids and tannins are nicely balanced with a long finish. Tadeo Borchardt did a wonderful job producing this wine. A nice surprise for 2011. — 9 years ago

Rhonely Boy

9.3

Fantastic, delicious, slight raisin/fig in the finish (beautiful & delicious), tannin needs 3 years; sprite woody, will mellow nicely. — 5 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.4

I found a house in St Helena last week and will be moving there at the end of May. I thought I should get acquainted with the neighbors. What better way than a face off?
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Neyers Vineyards 2011 Neyers Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon vs Salvestrin Winery 2013 Salvestrin Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Neyers Ranch is situated in the hills of Conn Valley just east of St Helena, with elevations ranging from 400’ to 1200’ on a south-facing, 50-acre parcel bisected by Conn Creek. Since 1998 Neyers has sustainably farmed this vineyard. Winemaker Tadeo Borchardt started in 2004 as assistant to then winemaker Ehren Jordan.
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This Neyers was highlighted as one of the best of Napa’s 2011s in Jon Bonné’s piece for the SF Chronicle “Lessons from Napa in the trickiest of years” saying it “finds that great Cabernet balance of sleekness and dense flavor” with “pitch-perfect expression” and an “oregano-like herbal side frames its meaty structure and subtle blackcurrant fruit.”
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Since 1932, three generations of Salvestrins have sustainable farmed their vineyard which was originally planted in 1860 by Dr. George Crane. It’s situated immediately south of St Helena High School and along Main St (Hwy 29), surrounding the family winery. Rich Salvestrin farms the vineyard and makes the wine, and his wife Shannon handles the sales and marketing, while they both raise the 4th generation on their farm.
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Robert Parker gushed over the 2013, as “lusty, savory, hedonistic, rich and mouth-filling, with a dense purple color and not a hard edge in sight.” His praise did not stop there, saying that this “blockbuster fruit bomb has complexity, richness and a savory intensity that has to be tasted to be believed.”
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The vintages were so different that it’s difficult to weigh them against each other. Bonné is definitely on point calling the Neyers one of the best examples of 2011 Napa Cabernet. Savory, with rich aromatics of Mexican cocoa powder and mole sauce, reminiscent of Corison’s 2011. To Parker’s credit, the Salvestrin is definitely a blockbuster and a hedonistic fruit bomb, but the savoriness, complexity, and length tone down its showiness, and add a level of decorum that sets it apart. — 7 years ago

Mike Beltran

9.0

Very solid Bordeaux blend with lots of fruit flavors and balanced oak influence. Still very young and well reward cellar time over the next 5/8 years. Top rate Napa Cab at a fair price.. Nice job Bruce.... — 8 years ago

with Janelle and Joe

Chris Cass

9.6

Maybe wine of the night. Thank you Bruce Neyers, a wee bit young and reductive but still undeniably charming — 9 years ago

Marcia Silk

9.0

I've had too many wimpy Zins lately. This one is not. More like a Beefcake. I'll take it. — 9 years ago