By Bruce Neyers

Tuesday 21st April, 2026

2023 Pinot Noir ‘Placida Vineyard’ – Here’s how far we’ve come with Pinot Noir

The last few weeks in the Napa Valley have been unseasonably warm – most of us would call it unpleasantly hot – and we’ve experienced spring and summer temperatures in the high 80’s, and low to mid 90’s. Getting to our office has been a daily travail, as we try to remember all of the rules for summertime living. It’s comforting to get home, though, as when we remodeled our house, Barbara decided that since we needed a new floor, we’d use Mexican Saltillo Pavers. We installed them throughout the house, and on a hot summer day they keep the inside 15 degrees or so cooler than the outside. What a welcome treat. When we first moved to the Napa Valley in 1972, I went to work at Mayacamas Winery, and we took up residence in a 100-year-old stone house on the property. The exterior walls were about a foot thick, the floors were stone, and we enjoyed the lodging for its cool interior temperature, its proximity to my work, and for the great views of San Francisco. That’s probably where Barbara got the idea for the tiled floors. We didn’t make Pinot Noir at Mayacamas, but we sure drank a lot of it, especially in the summer. We had an outdoor grill set up on the stone deck by the kitchen, and since I still worked part-time at Connoisseur Wine Imports and got the employee discount, I learned to enjoy inexpensive red Burgundy. I still do, and we drink it often — mostly imported by Kermit Lynch this time. We frequently grill red meats and fish outdoors, but Barbara’s tastes include cold salads, so we got a head start on summer during the recent heatwave and enjoyed several bottles of Neyers Pinot Noir. We like to chill it for a day in the refrigerator, then serve it. Last year Barbara became a member of the Rancho Gordo ‘Bean of the Month Club’, so she is trying new recipes often. We are now down to the last 50 cases of our 2023 Pinot Noir ‘Placida Vineyard’, and it’s a beauty. The grapes are grown in the Russian River Vineyard of Chuy Ordaz – one of California’s most celebrated grape farmers — and the plant material came from the former Joe Swan vineyard in Forestville. That budwood originated in Burgundy, and for years was the only source of Joe Swan’s Pinot Noir, a wine that many felt was the finest bottling of Pinot Noir made in California. The 2023 Placida Vineyard has a beautiful color, but then there’s the aroma, an absolute pleasure, complex and fine. The flavors are a soft combination of fresh blueberries and raspberries, surrounded by ripe peach. I love the earthy minerality that comes from that well-drained Goldridge Clay of Russian River Valley’s soil — sandy loam with volcanic ash. The finish seemingly lasts forever. Best of all, it’s as refreshing as walking into a house with a cold, stone floor on a hot summer day.