Neyers Vineyards estate spotlight
Wine Talks sits down with Bruce Neyers for a long-form account of Napa, French influence, and the path that shaped Neyers Vineyards.
2022 Neyers Vineyards Sage Canyon Red
Southern Rhône inspiration, old-vine California fruit, and foot-trodden whole clusters in one bright, savory red.
Bruce Neyers and winemaker Tadeo Borchardt layer Carignan, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, Zinfandel, and Grenache into a fragrant, spice-laced red with fresh acidity and fine tannin. WineSlash brings the exact 2022 vintage to $24.
Six bottles save $30
The California red Daniel Brunier talked Bruce Neyers into making
A roadside Grenache vineyard and a question from the Vieux Télégraphe vigneron became the blueprint for a distinctly Californian, southern Rhône-inspired blend.
A southern Rhône blueprint
Carignan, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, and Grenache bring the warm-climate varieties Bruce discussed with Daniel Brunier into a California frame.
Old-vine depth
The 2022 blend adds Zinfandel from an especially attractive century-old block at Fathom Vineyard near the Sierra foothills.
Hands-on cellar work
Native yeast, whole clusters, twice-daily foot treading, neutral barrels, and no fining or filtration keep the fruit and savory structure intact.
Serious wine, weekday price
Two exact-vintage 91-point reviews and a $24 live price make this a polished, food-ready red without trophy-bottle economics.
Two critics find freshness inside the 2022 vintage
Wine Enthusiast and James Suckling both landed at 91 points, praising the wine’s concentration, spice, bright acidity, and refined tannin.
A five-dollar edge on a red already built for the table
The live $24 WineSlash price is 17% below the supplied $29 average market price for the exact 2022 vintage.
At $24 per bottle, six bottles total $144. The supplied average-market equivalent is $174, so a six-pack keeps $30 in the cellar budget.
See the exact-vintage Wine-Searcher listing (opens in a new tab). Market averages are ex-tax and vary by merchant, location, and availability.
That is $5 below the supplied average market anchor on every bottle.
Six bottles total $144. Twelve bottles total $288 and ship free.
Add 6 Bottles • $144Wild cherry and black tea, with spice in every register
The winery’s note begins with peach, apricot, mineral, and earth, then turns through allspice, clove, nutmeg, and wild cherry on a long, smooth finish.
Bruce Neyers reports yields close to 2021 and highlights the addition of a century-old Zinfandel block near the Sierra foothills.
Lavender, wild cherry, huckleberry, peach, apricot, mineral, and an earthy undertone.
Plum, cassis, blackberry, raspberry, allspice, clove, nutmeg, black tea, and freshly ground pepper.
Medium-bodied and bright, with fine but grippy tannin, generous fruit, and a smooth savory finish.
Peach, apricot, and wild cherry arrive first, framed by mineral and earth.
Clove, allspice, black tea, and pepper become clearer as the fruit broadens.
The tannin settles into the meal while cherry and blackberry stay fresh.
Forty-five days, whole clusters, and a pair of boots
The method is deliberately physical: cold fruit, native yeast, twice-daily pigeage, extended fermentation, and neutral oak with no polish added at bottling.
Borchardt receives the hand-picked fruit at first light, ferments with native yeast, and guides the whole-cluster wine into previously used French oak.
Cold, intact fruit: Grapes are hand-picked at night into half-ton bins and delivered at first light, preserving freshness before they enter open-top stainless-steel tanks.
Pigeage: An intern walks the fermenting cap twice daily for roughly thirty minutes during the first twenty days, retaining the stems without breaking them through pump-overs.
Neutral élevage: After forty to forty-five days, the wine is pressed into used sixty-gallon French oak for one year, then bottled without fining or filtration.
A California wine with a long French conversation behind it
The Sage Canyon story connects Bruce and Barbara Neyers, Kermit Lynch, Daniel Brunier, and Tadeo Borchardt through one deceptively easy-drinking red.
Bruce and Barbara Neyers released their first wine in 1992, while Bruce’s work with Kermit Lynch kept him close to generations of French growers. Those conversations shaped a house style built on restraint, native fermentations, and site transparency.
In 2005, Daniel Brunier spotted Grenache during a drive through central California and asked why Neyers did not make wine from it. His persistence sent Bruce and Tadeo searching for Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah.
Small trial lots followed in 2006 and 2007, with French growers tasting and advising along the way. By 2009, the blend had the character they wanted and took the Sage Canyon name from the winery’s Napa Valley neighborhood.
Let herbs, browning, and umami meet the wine’s savory side
Lamb answers the whole-cluster spice and tannin; mushroom ragù draws out earth, black tea, and herbs while polenta softens the edges.
Both dishes build flavor through browning and herbs, giving the wine’s bright fruit a savory surface to play against.
Serve near 58 to 62°F and open about thirty minutes before dinner. A broad glass helps the floral and pepper notes lift.
Lamb Loin Chops Sizzled with Garlic
Food & Wine’s twenty-minute recipe pairs browned lamb and garlic with thyme, lemon, parsley, and crushed red pepper.
Why it works: Lamb richness meets the tannin, while garlic, thyme, pepper, and lemon echo the wine’s savory spice and bright acidity.
View Recipe for Lamb Loin Chops Sizzled with Garlic (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom Ragù with Greens over Polenta
Lidia Bastianich layers mixed mushrooms, leeks, rosemary, escarole, peperoncino, butter, and Grana Padano over creamy polenta.
Why it works: Mushroom umami and rosemary mirror the wine’s earth and dried herbs; polenta and cheese soften tannin while greens keep the finish fresh.
View Recipe for Mushroom Ragù with Greens over Polenta (opens in a new tab)This is the smart six-pack: serious craft, vivid character, and $24
Sage Canyon Red brings old-vine fruit, whole-cluster technique, French perspective, and two 91-point reviews into a bottle made for weeknight dinners and crowded tables.
Let wild cherry, clove, black tea, and pepper gather before the lamb reaches the table.
James Suckling’s guidance is to drink or hold; proper cool, dark storage is the sensible path.
Six bottles total $144; twelve total $288 and qualify for the store’s free-shipping path.
Bring home the California Rhône blend that Bruce Neyers calls way too easy to drink.
