2021 was the second year of the drought and this decade’s first wine. Even though, with limited rainfall, the winter was warm and the vines started to bud early. The season was in harmony with mother nature- with cool mornings with seasonal fog and warm sunny days. Being one of the driest years on record, with just about 10 inches of rainfall, this created stress on the vines and led to lower yields. However, the dry conditions were balanced by consistent sunny days and cool nights with occasional fog. These factors produced smaller berries that brought concentration of fruit with excellent acidity and tannin structure. The lighter than normal crop was harvested with delight.
The season rewarded us with very balanced wines across all our Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting wines from the 2021 vintage are highly concentrated and elegant, showing vibrant fruit characteristics with a rich core, accompanied by silky rounded tannins. Our two single vineyard wines will be showcased for years to come and this vintage will go down as one of the premier years of wine for this decade.
The vintage is anticipated to age exceptionally well, thanks to its bright acidity and fine tannins, which were particularly evident in the mountain-grown varietals like those from Howell Mountain and Rutherford’s benchlands. Many winemakers have lauded 2021 as one of the finest Napa vintages in recent memory, producing wines that balance power, freshness, and complexity and our recent scores reflect this.
The Neal Vineyard Estate Single Vineyard Duo
The 2021 Howell Mountain brings a wine glass of dark fruit with no interrupted softness of round velvety tannins rolling throughout the mouth experience. The years I sought to find this property were many; however we are one very few on the very south end of the Howell Mountain AVA and this makes exceptional opportunities for growing grapes and making wine. The winery estate is 1800 feet in elevation and receives fog from the Pacific Coast periodically during the growing season. This is one of the key reasons I purchased this property. The climate of this location allows the grapes to mature longer on the vine. It is typical for us to harvest 30 days later than others as our location allows for a longer, slower ripening process in the estate vineyard. About 90% or more of Howell AVA such as the northern or eastern part of the Howell AVA do not receive the fog. The wine shows this unique aptitude from the vineyard besides its high elevation and numerous aspects to the sun.
The 2021 Rutherford Dust brings a mouth full of energetic fruit that starts and lingers, defined structure and rounded tannin that is characteristic of this particular vineyard. This wine is very focused when decanted now, however rewarded wine that can be enjoyed for the foreseeable future. Whereas this vineyard was purchased in 1966 by Jack and Athene Neal and was farmed organically before they even stepped foot on the property. We have had almost six decades of experience of growing grapes on this land and it shows again with this vintage of Rutherford Dust Cabernet Sauvignon.
Keeping with the organic methods, we have grown to incorporate new innovations in both our vineyards. In 1997, we developed and implemented our Dual Variety Trellis System.
Both Estate Vineyards bring us Certified Organic wine, meaning our soils and fruit are certified organic, and the wines produced are also Certified Organic. Two award-winning Napa Valley Wines, certified organic from soil to bottle.
