I’m sure you’ve heard. There’s a kid from Akron doing some amazing things in California. Celebrities are taking notice.
With this kid, though, there is no dribbling. That would be considered a major faux pas — particularly at the vaunted French Laundry. That's where Firestone High School graduate Drew Neiman sells his high-end Napa Valley wines. And now he has a label featuring a distinctive sculpture that Akron residents might recognize.
After graduating in 1977, Neiman looked to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Leon Neiman, an ear, nose and throat physician who still practices in Akron.
But it was a close relationship with cousins Eli and Mildred Neiman, who owned Regency Wines at Fairlawn Plaza, which helped steer his career path toward wine.
“We were really close,” Neiman said. “I would go to the wine shop all the time. I would even help out at Christmas. I knew back then I wanted to make wine. I just kept getting connected with wine situations that progressed me.”
While attending Ohio State University, Neiman began to work for a wholesale wine company, where he became familiar with Newton Winery and its famous winemaker.
“I knew I wanted to work under legendary winemaker John Kongsgaard, who was at Newton at the time,” Neiman said. "His wines blew me away."
Neiman’s pursuit of working for Kongsgaard was relentless. It took three years of persistence before the winemaker hired the kid from Akron for a three-month harvest job in 1994. Neiman impressed the boss, and ended up staying with Kongsgaard for 11 years, working alongside him at Newton, Luna, Kongsgaard and Arietta wines.
“I worked my way up and became his assistant winemaker,” said Neiman, who went on to start his own wine label, Neiman Cellars, in 1997. Neiman highlights a list of 75 famous winemakers who have worked under John Kongsgaard.
“Kongsgaard is the coolest guy I know,” Neiman said, “and an awesome winemaker.”
Neiman Cellars is a small production winery making just under 1,000 cases per year. The focus is on what Neiman calls his core four: Syrah, chardonnay, red wine and cabernet sauvignon.
He self-distributes to a handful of retail shops, mailing list members and a few fancy restaurants. His best customer is the French Laundry in Yountville, California.
Quite a few celebrities have been introduced to his wines. The list is long, and Neiman keeps it close to the vest.
Admittedly, he has quite a following among professional hockey players. Mario Lemieux has been known to buy Neiman’s wine from a Yountville wine shop.
Neiman even hosted a tasting for 2017 Miss America Savvy Shields.
However, a chance meeting with “Sideways” movie star actor Paul Giamatti is what gave Neiman the inspiration to start a companion wine label that he just released called The Fallen.
In 2014, Neiman was invited to the 10th anniversary party for “Sideways” in Santa Barbara, California. Invited guests included actors, directors, writers, vintners and producers of the movie, which was distinctly pro-pinot noir and anti-merlot.
"Part of the deal," Neiman explained, “was that if you were a vintner, you had to bring a magnum of a pinot that you produced.”
Neiman, who does not produce a pinot noir wine, brought a 750ml bottle of merlot that he set on a table next to a long line of pinot magnums. It was a huge table of bottles, Neiman said, with his smaller 750ml bottle looking dwarfed by the many pinot noir magnums.
For those who haven’t seen the movie, “I’m not drinking any [expletive] merlot,” was Giamatti’s famous line.
Neiman boldly went to Giamatti’s table and mentioned he liked the actor in the movie. "I noticed no one was bothering the celebrities and I was, like, screw that,” Neiman said.
He quickly told Giamatti: “I make merlot. Can I pour you a glass?” After tasting the merlot, Giamatti said, “This is fantastic."
"That was really the origin of The Fallen,” Neiman said. "That bottle of wine. It was 2005 merlot.”
The merlot was wine that didn’t fit into his Neiman red wine blend, so he bottled it on its own and made 50 cases.
“It would’ve gone into The Fallen,” he said. “I just had four barrels of merlot, and two barrels made it into the final blend of the Neiman red blend wine.
"Having this companion label will allow me to make the best Neiman wine I can,” he said. "That was the inception of thinking about it. I have only made a Neiman merlot once."
Neiman still has strong ties and wonderful feelings for Akron and Northeast Ohio and wanted this to reflect in his companion label. He remains an avid fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Browns, Indians and all things LeBron James.
“I wanted something that was relevant to Akron for my wine label, since I am from here,” he said. On a trip 10 years ago to the Rubber City Clothing Co., a T-shirt caught his eye. It was designed by owner Keevan White and depicted the Fulton Angel.
The art deco angel is on the back wall of the former Guggenheim Airship Institute on Triplett Boulevard, which is now home to the Haunted Laboratory.
“That was always in the back of my mind,” he said. It became the inspiration for The Fallen label.
The Fallen wines are produced with the same care and attention to details as the Neiman label. “I’m not cutting any costs," said Neiman, who sells his Napa cabernet for $375 a bottle. "Having a companion label will allow me to have additional wines sourced from other vineyards and experiment with other varieties."
"Like Johnny Walker, I have a red label and a black label. The [$65] red label is the reasonably priced option that carries the excellence of the Neiman Cellars brand. The [$175] black label is a more exceptional wine."
Caldwell Vineyards and Sleeping Lady Vineyard are his two sources for the 2018 The Fallen wines.
I was excited for the opportunity to taste both of The Fallen red and black label wines during a 2-hour Zoom call with Neiman and cheese expert Thalassa Skinner. I’ve been fortunate to have tasted Neiman’s wines on quite a few occasions. All of his wines are truly amazing.
Skinner suggested nine cheese samples to pair with both wines. The Fallen red wine is an elegant wine with blueberry flavors with subtle hints of black fruit and butterscotch aromas. Comté, a French cheese made from cow’s milk, really accentuated the wine. You can find the Comte cheese at Heinen's in Hudson.
The Fallen Syrah is a big and powerful wine with flavors of black cherry and cigar box. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a Wisconsin cow’s milk cheese, paired exceptionally well with this syrah. This cheese, which can be found at Whole Foods and Heinen’s, is produced only between April and September when cows are grazing in the fresh pasture.
The Fallen wines will give me, and other wine lovers, a more affordable way to enjoy wines made by the other kid from Akron.
The story behind the label will be a great topic of conversation.
You can get in touch with Neiman at drew@NeimanCellars.com to place an order for these wines.
January 20, 2021 at 06:14PM
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Meet another 'kid from Akron' making it big in California, and the local landmark that inspired his Napa Valley wine label - Akron Beacon Journal
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