TN: 2004 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon (USA, California, Napa Valley)

WINE TALK
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  • 2004 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/8/2010)
    After two hours open, this wine emerges with a rich nose of tobacco, coffee, and dark fruits, and a rich mouthfeel with flavor profiles of cassis, graphite, and black cherry. Big tannic structure, but large rounded tannins, even enjoyable on its own. In a very early secondary stage, and quite good. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I haven’t had a Neal in ages. They always seemed really big and tannic on release, so it’s good to know they are starting to round out.

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Yes, my original bottles were consumed in late 2008 - they are really starting to come around, but you need to give them some air time. When I first tried it, it was still a huge, inky, tannic mess. After finishing the '77 Jordan Alexander Valley cab tonight, the Neal had 2 hours by the time to open up, and it really did. I have traded or sold the rest of my Neal, and now sort of wish I hadn’t. Paired with a fatty beef dish, this wine will be quite excellent, and was simply great on its own as well.

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Big Neal fan here, going back to the 01 vintage.

Is there another Napa producer who hasn’t raised their cab
prices since the 1998 release ($45)?

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I like Neal too. I find that they require age AND air to show their best.

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Todd - what are your thoughts on drinking now vs holding for a few years? Thanks

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I like wines that just start to enter secondary characteristics, so I was happy to drink it now. It sorely needed a couple hours of air (which it did eventually get), but I bet 2 hours in a decanter would have made it even better, significantly so. The fruit emerges over the ‘boozy’ aspects (it is high 15’s in abv percentage, so the high abv shows up big in the beginning. I know alcohol doesn’t blow away, or evaporate, it’s just that when the fruit starts to peek through, it covers it up and gains balance) and it becomes quite enjoyable.

Had it alongside a '77 Jordan Alexander Valley, so it was an interesting comparison.

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Can’t think of another producer. And they also offer 500ml bottles too!

And, I am one of those people who actually like big bold tannic wines, so I don’t mind the Neals young.

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Neal is a nice wine for the price - I too have found them to need a few years of bottle age - kind of remind me of an older style of cali cab where the tannin needs a bit of time to integrate. Recently finished off my 02s - anyone have an 05 recently?

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This is my note from an '04 a few weeks ago.

“Saturday, September 25, 2010 - This wine is coming around nicely. Soft tannins and rounded flavors. Plenty of fruit. If you have multiple bottles it is time to start drinking these.”

I really enjoyed the wine but remember thinking that a little more time in the cellar may improve integration… seemed a bit disjointed.

I had the '05 back in May but did not write a note.

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Had an 02 back in August and loved it. Strangely, it
hadn’t moved as far along as this bottle.

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Burgess may be a Napa Valley Cabernet producer who hasn’t raised its prices since the 1998 release.

I work for Jordan in Alexander Valley, and I know our price increases have been modest since the 1990s. You can find Jordan for around $40 at CostCo; I think that was close to the retail price a decade ago. Looking at pricing with a long-term view and not $$$$ during the boom times is another reason I think Jordan faired so well during the recession. Winery was up 5% in revenue in 2009.

Lisa

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We opened a bottle of 1978 Jordan Cabernet at the winery two weeks ago. The eleganceand light cherry fruit characters of the wine were very interesting. Those who enjoy aged characteristics in their Jordan cabs seem to be drinking the late-70s now. We also had someone come to the winery and buy a 1978 magnum in May, and he drank it over two days and raved about it on his blog. We’re opening a 1979 6 liter at our Christmas party. Will be interesting to see where it stands.

Lisa