Tasting Overview

This tasting is the last of a series of six dedicated to red blends of the Americas. In this occasion we have two wines, one from Napa (based on Carignan and Grenache) and another from Paso Robles (based on Syrah and Grenache). The objective is to asses the differences and similarities of these wines and their character. 

Type of Tasting: Open

Wine presenter: Jorge Requena

The wines are:

2018 Neyers Sage Canyon California Red Wine

2017 McPrice Myers High on the Hog, Rhone Red Blends from Central Coast, California

 The menu is up to each participant discretion

Participants: Mario Aguilar, Marcello Averbug, Jaime Estupiñán, Orlando Mason, Agilson Perazza, Claudia Perazza, Jorge Requena, Alfonso Sanchez, Jairo Sanchez, Ricardo Santiago, Pedro Turina, Ricardo Zavaleta, German Zincke

Information on the Wines

(The information below has been compiled from various internet sources) .

2018 Neyers Sage Canyon California Red Wine  

The Wine: The 2018 Sage Canyon Red has a finished blend of Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. Each lot of wine was fermented naturally using native, wild yeast, and the grapes were all crushed by foot so as to not break the stems left in the fermenting must. The finished wine is bright and flavorful, with a combination of mineral and earthiness. The Carignan fruit is stylish, incorporating elements of wild cherry, plum and black fig, while the Grenache and Mourvèdre add exotic aromas of wild herbs and lavender. It’s a wine for the ages, and you’ll enjoy watching it age over the next decade or two (Bruce Neyers).

Composition: 50% Carignan, 25% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 5% Syrah

Barrel Program: 100% neutral French oak Alcohol: 13.6%

Vinification: traditional winemaking processes, 100% stem retention, whole cluster fermentation, oak-aging for one year in small, used barrels, and bottling with neither fining nor filtration.

The Sage Canyon Red is made from fruit from four separate areas of northern California: Grenache from the Sierra foothills, Carignan from Oakley, Mourvèdre from the southern Sonoma Valley near Glen Ellen, and Syrah from the Santa Lucia Highlands. The result is a soft wine, wonderfully attractive in its youth with complex flavors that are pleasing across the palate. This full-bodied Carignan-based wine wraps potent fruit and dark-spice flavors in a firm texture, framed by bright acidity and moderate tannins. Its good structure and concentration will pair well with many rich proteins. Best through 2025. (WE 91)

The winery:  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.

Even though Neyers Vineyards sits in the heart of the Napa Valley, Bruce’s experience with French wine importers 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 from wood air dried 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 hand sorted and inspected at the winery.

The Region: Sage Canyon area of Napa Valley. Sage Canyon Red from Neyers Vineyards derives its name from the sub-region where the winery is located. The canyon created by the north face of Pritchard hill was settled in the 1830’s by a group of Ohio pioneers led to California by John Chiles, and in neighboring Chiles Valley they established a modern, self-sustaining community with farms, homes, gardens, winemaking, mills and a distillery. The sage they introduced to the area grew wild in the canyon, hence the name Neyers uses today.

Read more about the winery here: https://www.neyersvineyards.com/

2017 McPrice Myers High on the Hog, Rhone Red Blends from Central Coast, California 

The Wine:  Winemaker Tasting Notes. Aromas of smoky plum, mocha, licorice, and black raspberries. On the palate, Rainier cherry, boysenberry, dark chocolate, brown spice, lush tannins and a long, supple finish.

This wine is a blend: 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 22% Mourvèdre, 6% Petite Sirah, 2% Viognier. 

Alcohol: 15.2%

Vinification: 3-5 day cold soak, with pump-overs 2 times a day and punch-downs 3 times a day during fermentation. Fermented in concrete, stainless steel, and small open-top fermenters with 20% whole clusters. Pressed into 500 L French Oak puncheons, 265 and 228 L barriques. Aged 20 months.

Aromas of fresh boysenberry, baked pastries, caramel and savory smoke lead into a well-integrated palate of fruit, herb and wood flavors that are framed by firm yet polished tannins. It’s fresh with acidity and yet dense, finishing on a touch of pine needle (Wine Enthusiast 93.)

Deep vivid ruby. Powerful red and blue fruit preserve, candied licorice and exotic spice aromas pick up a smoky nuance with air. Broad, fleshy and seamless in texture, offering palate-coating black raspberry, cherry cola, fruitcake and mocha flavors sharpened by a zesty, peppery nuance. Smoky finish, which leaves behind a sweet violet pastille note (Vinous 91.)

The 2017 High on the Hog offers earthy dark fruits, bouquet garni, pepper, and violets notes in a medium to full-bodied. It’s California’s answer to a top-notch Côtes du Rhône (Jeb Dunnuck 90.)

The Winery:  The Estate Vineyard is home to 20 acres of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Viognier, and Grenache Blanc. Located in the East/West Adelaida corridor (Paso Robles), where the Pacific Ocean’s influence provides for cool nights, even ripening, and a very long growing season. The hillside blocks are quite steep, with the slopes ranging in incline from 25 to 50 degrees, and with elevations from 1500 to 2000 feet. Well-drained soils are a combination of the Santa Lucia-Lopez and Linne-Calodo series, as well as Rincon and Nacimiento silty clay loam. There are multiple exposures to these hillside blocks, which results in a hands-on cultivation of each block by the McPrice Myers vineyard team.

Read more about this winery here: https://www.mcpricemyers.com/

Technical Notes 

There are abundant technical notes on red blends in the last five blogs 226 to 230.  Readers are welcome to browse through those pages.