I’m having fun digging into the attic of my writing samples these days, and sharing with you. Enjoy!

Neyers Vineyards article for Blue Hen Messenger (alumni publication)    

by Suzi Beerman, August, 1999

A series of simple gestures make up the act of drinking wine—uncorking the bottle, pouring the wine, lifting the glass to your lips, and taking a sip. But in the moment the wine touches your tongue, the drink’s true complexity can reveal itself to you. “Doesn’t this syrah taste of blackberries and licorice?” “Can you smell the ripe apples and honey in this chardonnay?” The journey from grapevine and sunshine to the pale gold or deep plum elixir in your glass took years, and perhaps a bit of sweat and tears.

The friendly, hardworking owners of Neyers Vineyards in Napa Valley, California have firsthand knowledge of the years, dedication, and patience that go into making fine wine. For Bruce (UD ’69) and Barbara Staulcup (UD ’68) Neyers, the journey from growing up in Delaware to growing grapes in Napa has been a series of small, meaningful steps. In the three decades since Bruce graduated with a chemistry degree and Barbara graduated with a major in elementary education from the University of Delaware, two things have remained constant. Foremost, the high school sweethearts from Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware have shared their romance and partnership. The other constant has been their appreciation for the flavors and textures of the world’s fine wines.

Bruce credits his father-in-law, Harry Staulcup with launching his wine appreciation. “Barbara’s dad was a career Air Force pilot,” Bruce notes. “He traveled the world and brought back great wines.” Bruce’s own stint in the military broadened his exposure to wine and eventually to the wine business when he was assigned to a base near San Francisco. In 1970, Bruce and a fellow officer began working together at a wine import business in San Francisco.

With the Neyerses’ proximity to Napa Valley, their appreciation of fine wines, and his background in chemistry, Bruce and Barbara were soon picking grapes and learning to make wine. In 1971, Bruce took a job as wine maker at Mayacamas Vineyards and had formal enology training at University of California Davis. At that time there were just 15 wineries in Napa Valley. Today the Napa Valley Vintners Association has 150 members.

In Napa Valley, success is often tied to two key industries—wine and food. While Bruce was earning his wine credentials, Barbara began breaking new ground in the restaurant industry. Bruce’s skills in the wine business were refined during 15 years with Joseph Phelps whom Bruce calls his “big brother, father, and business mentor.” By 1978, Barbara was working at Chez Panisse in Berkeley with Alice

Waters, a local icon credited with pioneering California’s Mediterranean-inspired natural cuisine.

Neyers Vineyards began in 1992 with a total production of just 300 cases. Today, Bruce and Barbara make 20,000 cases of wine annually while raising their three children and maintaining outside jobs. Barbara is a restaurant industry consultant and Bruce is a full-time French wine distributor with Kermit Lynch importers. Still, the Neyerses manage to have a hands-on family business approach to making wine. “I’ve done just about everything except actually make the wine, including washing the barrels,” Barbara notes. “Mostly I handle administration now, but I’ve done field samples, cooked meals for the harvest crews, ordered the bottles, and helped with bottling too.”

Neyers Vineyards’ award winning syrah, merlot, chardonnay, zinfandel, and cabernet sauvignon are made at an outside processing facility with the help of their partner and acclaimed wine maker, Ehren Jordan. Jordan is also known for the spectacular wines he produces for Turley Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. The wine aficionados’ bible, Wine Spectator, seems charmed by Neyers Vineyards’ syrah and chardonnay, consistently awarding them scores of 92 and 93 out of 100. The Spectator describes Neyers’ 1997 Chardonnay Carneros as “ripe and complex…elegant and creamy” and writes about the 1997 Syrah Napa Valley Hudson Vineyards with equal enthusiasm, calling it “dark, dense, and detailed with…enormous structure and density”.

Twenty-five percent of Neyers Vineyards’ grapes are picked from their own 50 acres in St. Helena, in the middle of Napa Valley. By 2002, Bruce and Barbara plan to open their own freestanding winery adjacent to the vineyards. “We’ve put a road in and dug a new well this year already,” Bruce reports. “By the end of 1999, we’ll begin construction on the winery.” When the winery opens, Neyers Vineyards will be open to the public for the first time. In the meantime, Bruce and Barbara might be coaxed into sharing the simple pleasure of a walk through their vineyard with former Blue Hens who find themselves in Napa Valley one weekend. (Neyers Vineyards wines are available in restaurants and shops around the world. To contact them, call 707-963-8840.)

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Neyers Vineyards web site is http://www.neyersvineyards.com/aboutHistory.php