One of the things that we love the most about being “wine” people is checking in on new vintages from favorite producers that we have followed over time.

The one time that we were in Napa together, Tracie and I had the opportunity to visit the Neyers estate. It was during that same trip that we got engaged. So following the winery has an even deeper and fonder meaning for us.

Neyers has always let its wines reflect their vintage and we’ve appreciated certain releases more than others. But man, the 2021 just knocked our socks off.

It just has such a wonderful “clarity” of fruit — tropical with just a hint of citrus — and is so buoyant in the glass. At around $25 in our market, it’s become our official house white of the spring. We highly recommend it. Everyone loved it during our Passover.

The other wine we’ve just been crazy about is the Altare Dolcetto.

Elio Altare wasn’t a winery that we followed in our early years of Nebbiolophilia. We always found their top wines were excellent but a little too modern-leaning for our palates.

But the estate’s connection to Texas has given them a robust presence here and we’ve really loved their Langhe Nebbiolo over the last few years. Fantastic fruit, raised in stainless steel (or at least, I believe, gauging from our experience with the wines).

We finally managed to get our hands on some of their Dolcetto and we just fell in love with it.

We don’t drink a ton of red wine at our house. But this wine’s freshness and bright fruit just make it so moreish and food-friendly. We opened it the other night with family friends and it just kept giving and giving great berry and cherry fruit. So much fun to pair it, again around $25, with steak and loaded baked potatoes.

It’s another wine that Parzen family feels compelled to recommend.

Whatever you’re drinking and eating this weekend, we wish you a good one! See you next week. Until then…