2011 Turley, Frederics Vineyard Zinfandel, Sonoma County, California, USA
About this WINE
Turley Estate
Turley has been producing big, lush Zinfandels from old vines throughout California since 1993. Larry Turley heads up this family owned winery while Ehren Jordan oversees the winemaking. Turley is a famous name in California wine.
In the words of Robert Parker (The Wine Advocate) "Turley remains the reference point for world-class, quintessential old vine Zinfandels. As always, a mind-boggling array of Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs are produced by the world’s premier Zinfandel specialist, Larry Turley. He deserves remarkable credit for his “holy grail” quest to locate largely forgotten parcels of old Zinfandel vines, and preserve as many of these historic sites as possible.”
Founded by Larry Turley in 1993, Turley Wine Cellars has been sourcing from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and most recently, in Paso Robles. In recent times they purchased the Pesenti Winery and vineyards in Templeton in 2000. Among California’s prestige producers of Zinfandel, Turley Wine Cellars is undoubtedly the one accorded the most “cult” status: coveted with almost religious fervor by zin lovers to the point where they often pay ridiculous prices for some of their top cuvees. Its status as an ultra-premium producer of Zinfandel is no longer a secret, therefore these wines are becoming very hard to source.
Organic farming comes naturally for Turley wine cellars. As Larry was raised on an organic tobacco farm in the southeast, both organics and farming are in his blood. The house style favours a style of Zinfandel built on an expression of aromatic intensity & richness but not excess heaviness.
Turley produce a huge portfolio of different Zinfandel cuvees / single vineyards and all these are notoriously difficult to source due to their popularity. We have managed to find a small amount of stock of three of these – the Juvenile blend and 2 single vineyard offerings. These wines are for the short to medium term drinking and will be approachable once they are with us early next year and will age for next 3 – 5 years.
Napa Valley
North Coast's Napa Valley is California's most famous viticultural area (AVA), claiming some of the most expensive agricultural land in the world and producing wines of cult status.
Its 16,000 ha of vines lie over a strip (40 miles long-5 miles wide) of diverse soils (clay, gravely, volcanic), with its northernmost end on the side of Mountain Helena and its foot in San Francisco Bay. The valley is framed by two mountains ranges Vaca (to the north) and Mayacamas (to the south), yet the main climatic influence is the cool wind and fog that is sucked in from San Pablo Bay during the afternoon, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.
The area enjoys a variety of unique microclimates, as temperatures can vary dramatically as much as 15 degrees, from the north to the south end of the valley. These differences have led to the creation of several sub-AVAs (14 in total) including:
Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley District, Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Los Carneros, Mt. Veeder, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, Spring Mountain District, Stags Leap District, Yountville, Wild Horse Valley and Oak Knoll District. The Calistoga AVA is still pending approval.
Both the Napa Valley designation and the sub-AVA name must appear on the wine label simultaneously, with the exception of wines from the Carneros AVA, which is shared between the Napa Valley and the Sonoma County.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed king of Napa grapes, occupying over 45% of the vineyard acreage, followed by (predominantly) Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab. Franc and to a lesser extent Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Barbera, Dolcetto.
Recommended Producers
Frog's Leap, Dominus, David Ramey, Viader, Stag's Leap Cellars, Paras Vineyards, Heitz.
Zinfandel
Zinfandel is California`s most distinctive red grape and is one of the few that is considered one of their "own", even though it originated in Europe.
Although it has been grown in California for well over a century, it took the popularity of white ("blush") Zinfandel in the mid 1980s to persuade growers to retain their Zinfandel vines and indeed to plant more. Within 10 years, plantings had doubled and Red Zinfandel had become a Californian icon.
It is grown all across California though seems to perform best in meso-climates, which combine hot days and cool nights. It has a worrying tendency to ripen unevenly, leaving the producer with a sort of viticultural catch-22 - if he harvests too soon then he has green, unripe grapes, too late and he has dried out raisiny grapes.
After vinification, Zinfandel wines are often matured in American oak, which gives them a vanilla dimension. There is no single flavour character that can be associated with the grape - it can produce light, jammy, almost Beaujolais-type wines, redolent of freshly crushed berries, through to full-bodied, robust, oak aged wines brimming with ripe, peppery, cassis-like fruits. The best can age marvellously.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
This certified organic vineyard, owned by Dick Fredericks, was planted in 1937. Though technically within the Sonoma Valley appellation, the vineyard is actually located about 900 feet up along very steep contoured terraces. A lucky vineyard to own as it is very rare to find hillside head-trained old vines within this area of California. The wines are high in acid, bright, balanced, with well-integrated fruit & tannin.
The Turley expression of Zinfandel is geared towards aromatics and elegance; the winemaker Jordan Passalacqua credits it to gentle extractions. The style is reminiscent of Burgundy, ripe but not heavy or punchy. The underlying quality of the wines is founded on fruit of exceptional purity and intensity of flavour.
In the words of Robert Parker (The Wine Advocate) "Turley remains the reference point for world-class, quintessential old vine Zinfandels. As always, a mind-boggling array of Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs are produced by the world’s premier Zinfandel specialist, Larry Turley. He deserves remarkable credit for his “holy grail” quest to locate largely forgotten parcels of old Zinfandel vines, and preserve as many of these historic sites as possible.”
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