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“Assyrtiko is similar to other white Mediterranean varieties, like Fiano, Vermentino and Albariño, which grow really well in the North Coast,” said Neal, whose vineyard management company farms 1,200 organic acres in Napa Valley. “I played around with the grape for a while to get it where I wanted it to be. But now, I think the wine is excellent.”
A boomerang-shaped Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, Santorini is renowned for its striking natural beauty and whitewashed buildings, which are crowned in domes of indigo blue.
One of about 220 islands that comprise the Greek Cyclades, modern Santorini was formed by a massive volcanic eruption about 3,600 years ago. Left in its wake was a vast caldera and deposits of mineral-rich ash, which transformed the soil into a fertile medium for growing wine grapes.
Chief among them is Assyrtiko (ah-seer-teeko), a white variety resistant to the island’s intense summer heat, lack of water and powerful winds. Vibrant in acidity, with fresh salinity and a distinct flintiness, it’s a grape that begs for shellfish.
In California, where the rising climate has winegrowers rethinking which grapes to grow and how to grow them, vintners like Mark Neal of Neal Family Vineyards in Napa Valley have started planting Assyrtiko.
A veteran winegrower and winemaker whose grandmother is from the Greek island of Crete, Neal planted 2.5 acres of Assyrtiko five years ago. This year, he released the first bottling, which is one of a handful produced in the country.
Elegant but rich, structured but velvety, this well-balanced, classically flavored wine keeps expanding with each sip. It offers deep black cherry, blueberry, spearmint and cocoa aromas followed by enticing oak toast, cloves and cedar on the moderately tannic palate. Made from organically grown grapes. Best from 2026–2036. — Jim Gordon
At first sip, this is a crisp and mineral style of Albariño. It then opens up to notes of nectarines and peaches, with nods toward springtime blossoms and jasmine. It’s crafted from estate-grown, biodynamic, and certified regenerative organic grapes, and it spends four months in 80% neutral and 20% new French oak.
“But the proof is in the bottle. I blind-tasted wines made from this vineyard for his Neal Family Vineyard label against similar wines. The 2021 Vermentino Rutherford Dust was savory and subtle, rating 91 points, and the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon was elegant, expansive and velvety, rating 97 points.”
Second-generation grape grower Mark Neal grew up in Napa Valley helping his Greek grandmother make compost for the family garden and his father plant vineyards, build barns and fix tractors. Those were the beginnings of a long career in conscientious farming for Neal, now 65. He became an innovator in viticulture and green farming, leading by example on his own properties and others that he managed, including Martha’s Vineyard in Napa, the legendary site of Heitz Cellar’s most collectible wines since the 1970s.
Last fall at harvest time, the wide-spaced vine rows here on the land where he was raised appeared simply tall and bushy. Looking closer, especially after veraison when red wine grapes turn their dark color and white wine grapes turn golden, the unusual nature of Neal’s setup became clear. Red grapes and white grapes occupy the same trellis, but with the red ones on top and the white ones below.
Neal planted a white-wine vine in between each red-wine vine, so that the trunks alternate. The red vines, in this case, Cabernet Sauvignon, are trained up high where they get lots of sun, and the white vines, Sauvignon Blanc in some blocks and Vermentino in others, are trained on low wires in the dappled shade below.
This dual-trellis vineyard yields twice the tonnage of grapes that the land used to, and with similar high quality, Neal says, yet the cost of farming both together is only less than 50% more. With the Cabernet Sauvignon leaves on top shading the white grapes below from sunburn, it’s possible to create a relatively cool environment in this warm appellation.Neal returns to the question of yields and wine quality when I visit with him again at the Neal Family Vineyards winery on Howell Mountain, where his wife, Laura, and daughter Demitria also work. The vineyard here is an organic, biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified property, where the family’s resident herd of sheep grazes the cover crops in spring and the emphasis is on building healthy soil.
The expansive winery and cave are adorned with graceful copper light fixtures and other copper furnishings designed and welded by Neal himself. He is both polymath and jack of all trades, equally deft at handling soils, plants, metals and machines.
“If anyone understands the delicate art of growing grapes in the Napa Valley, it would be Mark Neal, who has been growing grapes in the region since the 1960s and introduced vertical-growth vines 25 years ago.”
by Trevor Felch
by Rachel Witte
“One of the exciting things about CCOF’s 50th birthday is that many of our long-time members are celebrating milestone birthdays, too! One of those members is Mark Neal, from Neal Family Vineyards. Next year will mark 40 years of Mark farming organic grapes at the prestigious Martha’s Vineyard in Napa, California.
Mark has certainly built an organic legacy in Napa over the last 40 years. Since 1984, he’s converted more than 1,000 acres of Napa’s vineyards to organic production. Mark is known in the wine industry for his expertise in organic and biodynamic vineyard management, both for his own winery Neal Family Vineyards, as well as an impressive rolodex of famous, ‘big name’ wineries in Napa Valley.”
After all these years, Mark’s work has accumulated to what Deborah Parker Wong, national co-editor of the Slow Wine Guide, says is a “watershed moment” for “slow wineries” becoming certified organic. “We’ve been keeping a very close eye on the sustainable choices wineries are making and organic is the certification with the most agency in the ecosystem of Slow Wine,” Parker Wong explains.
“With more than 400 wineries crammed into a narrow 30-by-5-mile valley, Napa, California’s premier wine region, is filled with undiscovered treasures. The best wineries are often local favorites with a unique story behind the label.
Here are six hidden gems for sensational wine, gourmet cuisine and memorable experiences…
The original pioneers of sustainability
“Organic,” “biodynamic” and “sustainable” are well-worn buzzwords among many wineries in the valley, but no producer can claim to be more eco-friendly than Neal Family Vineyards. Mark Neal grew up among the vines of Rutherford, and his father, Jack, started a vineyard management company (Jack Neal and Son Vineyard Management) specializing in organic operations in 1968. The vineyards Neal oversees today were certified organic in 1984, long before sustainability became de rigueur.
Today, Neal Family Vineyards is the only winery in Napa Valley that’s Regenerative Organic Certified, the highest level of certification, and only one of five wineries in the world to hold this classification. Try the wines at a tour and tasting experience where you’ll learn all about the farming techniques used to produce the savory, earthy cabernet sauvignons.”
by Executive Wine Editor, Food & Wine
Ray Isle
“‘The moral of that story was drilled into me from day one: Know your farmer. Otherwise, who the hell knows what you’re eating. Or drinking.’
Jack Neal, Mark’s father, was a medic on the front lines in the Korean War. He and his wife, Athene, moved to Napa Valley in the early 1960s, then started a vineyard management company in 1968, which today Mark Neal owns and runs. It’s not a small operation, and it’s particularly significant in that Neal farms more organic acreage than anyone else in the Valley-some 840 acres for eighty different clients, more than 700 of which are also biodynamic.”
Neal Family Celebrates Love By Releasing New Wines
From The One & Only Collection
“Family-owned and operated Neal Family Vineyards is a boutique winery that specializes in crafting Cabernet Sauvignon from meticulously farmed, 100% biodynamic, and 100% estate vineyards on Neal Family’s signature Howell Mountain and Rutherford Dust properties in the Napa Valley. Founded by Napa Valley biodynamics pioneer Mark Neal, Neal Family Vineyards believes great wines come from great ingredients that only organic and biodynamic vineyards can produce.”
Napa Valley’s Mark Neal Invests in
Soil Health, Longevity
“The Neals have farmed organic methods long before the certifications were created.”
Summer’s end is an ideal time to gather with friends for a relaxing cookout before fall activities and the impending holiday season kick into gear. Sure, you’ll still be lighting the grill for the next several months, but scheduling becomes more difficult as everyone is going in different directions. Guests love to be greeted with a glass of bubbles, and surprising them with an elegant choice from northern Italy is a great way to show off how savvy you are. A creamy Sonoma Chardonnay is always a crowd pleaser, especially alongside salads, cheese, or poultry.
No barbecue is complete without plenty of red wine on hand. In addition to some bold Napa Cabs to pair with well-marbled cuts of beef, offer your guests something off the beaten track like Syrah, whose fruit and spice flavors are always a good match with ribs or brisket, Merlot, which has softer tannins than Cabernet, or Tempranillo from Spain, which straddles pairing possibilities from pork to lamb to beef. Here are nine great choices to get the party started.
9 Stellar Wines to Drink at Your Labor Day Barbecue
Organic and biodynamic farmer Mark Neal began making wine in 1966 at his parents Rutherford farm and in 1998 he built Neal Family Vineyards with his wife Laura. Together they produce organic wines from their estate-certified organic vineyards in Howell Mountain and Rutherford. Their 2019 Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is ruby colored with aromas of dried lavender, blackberry, and cocoa powder. It is soft on entry with flavors of black plum, dried Mediterranean herbs, and milk chocolate. Drink now thru 2033.
Neal Family Vineyards Leads the Way as The First Regenerative Organic Certificated® Winery in Napa Valley
The Neal Family Vineyards in Napa Valley have always been known as prestigious, organically farmed vineyards. And now, going back to their beginnings over 50 years ago, they’ve shown the world what can be accomplished through mindful, organic farming methods and practices. Recently named the first Regenerative Organic Certified® vineyard in Napa Valley, the Neal Family Vineyard Estates becomes one of only five Regenerative Organic Certified® vineyard estates in the world as recognized by the Regenerative Organic Alliance.
12 bottles of booze — from bourbon to bubbly —
perfect for every type of drinker on your holiday gift list
The green bottle
By “green,” we mean eco-minded. And that is certainly the case with the wines from Neal Family Vineyards, a Napa Valley producer that adheres to both biodynamic and organic standards. Indeed, founder Mark Neal is often credited as a pioneer in the industry — he went organic in 1984, long before other California winemakers started embracing this approach. The Neal Family’s wines run the gamut — both in terms of price and varietals. A good gift-minded offering is the Howell Mountain Collection ($299) with three bottles of different vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Mark Neal, founder and owner of Neal Family Vineyards, credits his Greek grandmother for influencing his organic farming philosophy. Growing up on the island of Crete, her family didn’t just grow grapes, but also farmed vegetables, fruit, olives, and raised animals, as part of a naturally biodiverse farming system. These same practices were adopted by his parents when they moved to Napa Valley in 1968 to purchase land and start an organic farm.
“They farmed tomatoes, grapes, prunes, walnuts and raised cattle,” stated Neal, in an online interview. “Everyone in Napa Valley farmed diverse crops back then. It was a way to hedge our bets as farmers, because you never knew what Mother Nature would bring.”
Now that same focus on biodiversity is back in style, prompted not only by changing climate conditions, but by consumers who are becoming more concerned with sustainable and organically farmed products.
Bottle Service: Everything’s Gone Green:
Great organic, biodynamic, and regeneratively farmed wines
“Mark Neal manages hundreds of acres of vineyard land throughout Napa Valley and farms his own vineyard (certified organic) both on Howell Mountain and in Rutherford. This cassis-rich offers both valley-floor richness and mountain-vineyard structure; look also for his nectarine-scented 2021 Vermentino.”
— Ray Isle
Neal’s approach is ‘definitely something new for Napa,’ said S. Kaan Kurtural, viticulture specialist at UC Davis.”
— Esther Mobley of San Francisco Chronicle
Vintner Mark Neal considers himself a farmer first and foremost. He hails from one of the pioneering families of Napa Valley, farming organically alongside his parents on their Rutherford property, where they grew grapes and walnuts. Young Mark started driving a tractor at age 8, and by the time he was 14, he was making garage wine with his father. Today, he operates the largest organic and biodynamic farming company in the valley, managing 720 acres of vineyards for many of the region’s cult-favorite varietals.
Neal Family also makes just a few thousand cases of 100% estate-grown biodynamic and regenerative organic wines from family property in the Rutherford and Howell Mountain AVAs. The brand is best known for its cabernet sauvignon, but the citrusy vermentino is delightfully elegant as well. Personalized tastings are by appointment only, including tours of the vineyards, caves and winery.
on Howell Mountain
“Since 1997, Neal Vineyards has crafted striking, organic wines from its Rutherford and Howell Mountain vineyards. Yet the winery has also remained a small, dynamic family business, the kind that could be found everywhere in the early days of Napa Valley.”