Turley Wine Cellars was founded in 1993 by former emergency room doctor Larry Turley. Larry grew up on a farm in Tennessee, and he brought with him a respect for the land and agriculture.
In the late 1970s, he met John Williams, and together, they started Frog’s Leap Winery. The winery was a success, but Larry felt he wanted to take a different path. He had taken an interest in zinfandel and petite syrah, especially from older vineyards. In 1993, he sold his share in Frog’s Leap and started Turley, with a focus on zinfandel and petite syrah.
Today, Turley Wine Cellars makes 47 wines from 50 different California vineyards, many of which date back to the late 19th century.
Turley is close to my heart. Their membership list was the first I signed up for when I lived in the US, and there were many purchases over the years.
Turley makes a special type of zinfandel, with high complexity, variety and high quality.
Their petite syrah is, for me, also very interesting, and worth checking out.
Christina Turley from Turley Wine Cellars visited Sweden for an exclusive wine tasting of their wines which then ended with a lunch at restaurant Noema.
We tasted the following wines:
- 2022 Turley Juvenile Zinfandel
- 2021 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel
- 2022 Turley Del Barba Zinfandel
- 2021 Turley Steacy Ranch Zinfandel
- 2021 Turley Napa Estate Zinfandel
- 2013 Paso Robles Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard
- 2016 Paso Robles Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard
- 2022 Paso Robles Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard
The first two flights contain young wines. Which was evident from the wines.
I like Turley more when they have some age, they really develop well, although they are still drinkable young.
2021 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel is very promising. It already shows maturity, paired with elegance and complexity. The fruit is huge but in no way obtrusive. It bodes well for the future.
The oldest Turley Old Vines I drank was a 1997, and it was absolutely lovely. These wines age well and are made for long ageing.
Otherwise, it was the last flight with a vertical with Pesenti that stood out.
2013 was a legendary vintage for California, but for me, 2016 won easily. It is an absolutely fantastic wine with maturity, elegance, and complexity.
Christina, can I buy some cases?
A few words from Christina Turley:
“’Turley is early,’ I always say that; our crops mature earlier an are harvested before others. The window for picking our zinfandels is two days. Picking cabernet sauvignon, you usually have a two-week window.”
“To add to that, the ripening of zinfandel takes place at different times all over California.”
“There is a constant threat that zinfandel vines will be ripped up and replanted with more popular and more rewarding grape varieties, in terms of money, such as cabernet sauvignon. We want to protect the zinfandel vineyards that are left in California. Our winery and main vineyard have now been saved as a land trust, saving and protecting it for the next 100 years.”
“Old vines are by our standards a minimum of 50 years. Some of our vines are +80 years.”
“We got certified as organic in the 1990s but have been producing organic wine since the beginning of the 1900s. “
“We now make wines from 50 vineyards all over California. Carignan, grenache, mourvedre and other grapes such as cinsault, muscat, viognier and palomino are mixed in with zinfandel in the vineyards. We see the additional grapes as a spicing to our zinfandel, a spice cabinet if you will. The FAA asked us to specify the percentage of each grape in our wines to meet their regulations. Hey, we have no idea – it’s wild and unknown. And it works.”
“Zinfandel is the only grape that grows all over California. Zinfandel in bulk, what most people know of, is really heavy, juicy and simple. Turley makes wines of character, wines that have personality and show elegance, complexity and variety.”
“One person trying our wines in a blind tasting said afterwards: Okay, so the best pinot noir I’ve ever had was a zinfandel from California.”
