By Bruce Neyers

Tuesday 15th July, 2025

Neyers 2020 ÂME Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – Praise from Decanter Magazine

I’ve been reading and enjoying ‘Decanter Magazine’ since their earliest years as a wine publication, and I’ve always valued their objectivity, along with their European slant on the wine business. My respect for the publication only increased when I learned a few years ago that they had hired Bay Area journalist Jonathan Cristaldi to augment their reporting on California wines. Barbara, Tadeo and I met with Jonathan a while ago at Neyers Winery – we’re located just a few miles east of Rutherford in Sage Canyon — and while tasting through the Neyers line-up, we were impressed by his thoroughness, perception, and attention to detail. I was delighted when a TFE colleague recently passed along to me a copy of his review of our 2020 ÂME Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. I thought you might enjoy seeing his notes as well:

2020 ÂME Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Neyers Winery

Impressively floral with elegant rose petals, cranberry and cherry fruit leading the way, underscored by sandalwood notes. Medium-bodied on the palate with lovely fine and granular tannins and a deep concentration of red berry fruit with cedar wood, vanilla, clove, and allspice. A long spicy finish reveals pops of red licorice from Bruce and Barbara Neyers and their top-talent winemaker Tadeo Borchardt. The name ‘AME’ comes from the first initial of the Neyers’ three children — Alexandra, Michael and Elizabeth — and is the French word for ‘soul’, which this wine has in spades. Score: 93 pts
– Jonathan Cristaldi

Credit for the name of this wine goes to my former Kermit Lynch colleague Jennifer Temple. She pointed out the connection between the French word ‘Âme’ to our children’s initials, when we were thinking of names for the inaugural wine from this parcel on our Conn Valley Ranch. Dave Abreu planted the block in 1998, and the first bottling was from the 2005 vintage. The 3-acre block was field-budded to Selection Massale plant material from Abreu’s Thorvilas Vineyard, and the quality of the wine has only improved over the intervening 20 years. We opened a bottle recently to go with one of Barbara’s favorite dishes, Pasta with Chanterelles, Pancetta and Parmesan. My late boss at Connoisseur Wine Imports, Art Formicelli, used to tell me that classic pasta dishes were best paired with great red wines. Here’s a pretty good example.

Pasta with Chanterelles, Pancetta  and Parmesan

Ingredients

• Dry Pasta of your choice – I prefer Orecchiette
• 2 cups chanterelles, cleaned and sliced into 1/8-inch pieces
• 1 small white onion, finely minced
• 2 slices Pancetta ¼-inch thick, cut into lardoons½ cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Sauté the pancetta until crisp and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
3. While the pasta is cooking, combine the minced onion, chanterelles, salt and pepper in a sauté pan, and cook until the chanterelles are tender.
4. Combine the pasta, chanterelles, onion, and pancetta.
5. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
6. Before serving, sprinkle each plate of pasta with the grated Parmesan.