I love an Old-Vine Zin with Thanksgiving dinner, and I've found the perfect one just in time for the big meal. Bruce Neyers and his team make this wine from 100+ year old vines located in the Sierra Foothills and Lodi. At just 14.1% ABV (low for Red Zin these days), this fresh, peppery, and food-friendly wine is my idea of the Perfect Thanksgiving Zin.
Zinfandel is about as "big" as I want to go with a red for turkey, ham, and sides. Trust me, this wine will not over-power your turkey, and that interplay of ripe fruit and zesty acidity will "play" very nicely with the rich and starchy Thanksgiving sides. Most importantly, this stuff is just delicious, and we're running a great deal on it through Thanksgiving Eve.
2019 Neyers Vineyards Zinfandel 'Vista Notre'
Fresh, peppery, and amply fruited Old Vine Zin. Perfect for the classic Thanksgiving Feast!
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God bless Bruce Neyers, one of the friendliest guys in "wine game." For years, Bruce was the National Sales Manager for Kermit Lynch Imports, and in 1992, he and his wife Barbara founded Neyers Vineyards. I don't recall ever drinking a wine from this estate that I didn't like. I'm not kidding, and their new Zinfandel bottling is one I can't wait for you all to try.
Being that Bruce cut his teeth selling some of the top French and European wines on the planet, there is always a good amount of Old World restraint and charm "sprinkled" into his wines. That is certainly the case here, as this almost tastes like it could come from Italy. That makes sense, as it was early Italian immigrants that brought Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) to California. Neyers honors Zinfandel's heritage with this wine that is completely removed from the "bigger is better" mentality that so many California Zin producers strive for.
That is not to say this is a shy or light wine. Far from it, this offers up plenty of aroma and flavor concentration. Ripe notes of raspberry and blackberry are buttressed by more complex nuances of black peppercorn, dried cranberry, and violet. Medium to full-bodied and a wine that works very well as an aperitif, it also loves just about any sort of food you put in front of it.
I love this quote from Bruce, as it's very telling of this wine. "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."
With Thanksgiving just a week away, this stuff is going to fly out of the store quickly. We bought our distributor out on this one, so no need to look for it anywhere else in WNC. Cheers and keep drinking the good stuff this holiday season!
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville