Release Letter ~ Fall 2005

This has been an eventful year and our thanks to each of you for supporting Neal Family wines. We have been working very hard on this project and your response to the wines has exceeded what we had been hoping for. During the last 12 months we have shared the wines at tasting events and dinners in Chicago, New York, Boston, Omaha, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Sun Valley, San Diego, Dallas and San Francisco as well as here on Howell Mountain. After 38 years of farming in Napa Valley, it is great to know the hard work is appreciated.

As always, the wine quality begins in the vineyard and as we get closer to the 2005 harvest, I am proud to announce we will crush 100% Organically Grown Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. We began converting vineyards to organic farming in 1991 and our grower clients who provide the balance of our fruit are enthusiastically supporting the decision. At Jack Neal and Son, my vineyard management company, we have over 900 acres in transition to organic farming practices. This decision comes from a belief that we can harvest superb quality fruit and in return, have a healthier piece of ground for future generations.

Having four children help when they can in the vineyard and winery is another reason for our farming decisions. As they are getting older and show more interest in how things are done, I see myself 38 years ago, following the family footsteps. We are replanting some of the estate vineyard and they have helped train the young vines and moved rocks out of the field. There has even been a request to learn to operate the backhoe! I will have to find a safe spot outside the vineyard and away from Margaretha’s garden.

At the winery, Gove and Kelly keep a close eye on each barrel in each vineyard lot. The latest addition that will insure the best quality and make our jobs less stressed is a new customized bottling line. Now we have the luxury of scheduling the bottling whenever we decide the wine is ready, whether it’s 3,000 cases of Cabernet or 20 cases of Petite Syrah. I have also added a new person to the team for restaurant sales in California. Powell Yang comes to us with incredible experience tasting wines from around the world.

Attached with this letter is our Fall Release Order Form. We are pleased to offer the 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This vintage is an excellent follow-up to the 2001 and 2002. The fruit is from the same nine vineyards we have used in the last several years giving us the complexity that allows us to continue offering a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, primarily from hillsides in Napa Valley. The growing season was far from normal, but after all these years, I realize there is no such thing as normal. We had an early budbreak, inconsistent bloom weather resulting in a lower than average crop and after a warm mid-summer and light rain in September, and great ripening conditions in October. We see similarities to the 2001 in forward, approachable characters, and traits like the 2002 in the body and texture. Ripe, black fruit mixed with tobacco, cedar and sweet oak combine to give this vintage the Neal Family profile.

I’m proud to offer this wonderful vintage to you as we continue to build a vertical of 100% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. If you have visited the winery and heard me talk about our goals, a reasonably priced wine for the customer is very important to me and this year is the fifth vintage without raising the bottle price. We have also provided a pre-release price ($495 per case) for those receiving this release letter as a way of thanking you and hoping to offset the cost of shipping. You will also notice I have released a few past vintages from my library. This will be the last offering for the 1998 and 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, giving those of you the chance to try these if you missed the earlier offerings. We are also bringing back a few 2001 and 2002 1.5 liter magnums. New this year I am offering a few 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 3-liter bottles. In the past, the 3-liters were reserved for charity auctions and the response for larger format bottles inspired me to offer a limited number.

Please note: The ‘Pre-Release Pricing’ of $495 per case is only available on full case orders of 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 750ml when placed between Monday, August 15th and Friday, September 16, 2005. There is a minimum order required for 1.5L and 3L bottle purchases. The library and large format wines will be sold on a “first come first serve basis”. Please refer to the order form for details. All orders will be shipped in November.

For those who like to plan ahead, we are scheduling our 3rd Annual Vineyard Designate Release Dinner, a fundraiser for our children’s PUC Elementary School, next spring on May 6, 2006. In response to the recent open house tastings here, we will have an open house that afternoon as part of the fundraiser that will feature a tasting of the 2003 Selected Vineyard Designate Cabernet Sauvignons. The dinner will cost $400 per couple and the open house tasting will be $50 per person. To confirm a reservation, send a check to my office made out to PUC Elementary School.

If you have any questions regarding the wines, booking a tour, or the order form, please call or e-mail me, mneal@nealvineyards.com and I will do my best to answer any questions that arise. You can also see tasting notes for all Neal Family wines on our website, www.nealvineyards.com.

Again, thank you for your interest in our wines. Please come and visit the winery when you are in the Napa Valley. If you cannot visit us here, check our events calendar on the website to see if we will be hosting a wine dinner or pouring at a wine function near you.

Sincerely yours,

Mark J. Neal