'01 Neal Family Vineyards Napa Valley C.S.

[newsguy]

($45; 15.2% alcohol) those of you familiar with my posts will know that this is not the price range of wine that i typically buy. so you might even be shocked to hear that i split a case of this with someone without even trying so much as a drop of this wine -- or any other one by this producer, for that matter. but this wine has created such a buzz on another board, where the folks' purchases have accounted for probably a third or so of this winery's small production, i figured that even if for some reason i didn't find the wine to my liking, i could easily sell the remaining five bottles.


TN: blackish purple in color; opaque. light initial nose of plums, currants and cassis, with vanilla oak accents. nose echoed on the palate, plus coffee and spice. huge mouthfeel, but the wine is quickly stomped on by massive tannins. this is a tight, tannic beast. although it opened a bit after double decanting and tasting over a period of 12 hours, it was still hard for me to tell exactly what this would evolve into over time. my score for the wine at maturity would be in the 91-95 range. WS recently reviewed this and gave it a 91. however, the consensus on the WS forum is that laube's score is low; the average score of folks on the WS forum is 93+. mark neal said this wine was made to be enjoyed in a decade. he is correct. i expect i won't even touch a second bottle until 2008-09 just to see how it's progressing. this monster cab is definitely a wine for those with patience -- and good long-term storage.

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 10-21-2004).]

[Glass_A_Day]

I gave this one some hard thought, but I had bought a bit too much around then and passed. Now I kind of wish I had a bottle or two. I bet Laube was a bit low as he was with most 01's. He gave Montelena Estate a 69...

[dananne]

I generally don't pay much attention to ratings, but I did see that. BV didn't get off easy, either, with a 69 and 68. Ouch! Was kinda surprised to see them hammer a big advertiser like that, but I'm sure just saying that will open up a whole can-o-worms with some.

[Glass_A_Day]

Laube is getting hammered on both the WS and Parker forums for those. Parker gave Montelena a 96 and Laube a 69. I hope Parker is right with my futures having just arrived. Like you say though, the only rating that counts for me is mine.

[winoweenie]

He musta left the bottle in the trunk of his car for a couple of 90* days. Tasted in San Diego and agree with Big Bobs' score. WW

[wondersofwine]

Neal Family is one of the wineries featured at the California Barrel Tasting in DC in April (sponsored by Bassins' or Macarthur's Beverages to benefit cancer fund). I noticed they are holding the event at the Mandarin Hotel instead of Watergate in 2005.
The dates are April 8 and 9. For more info go to www.bassins.com and scroll down lefthand side for California Barrel Tasting.