Turley En Primeur

Known for crafting compelling single-vineyard, old vine Zinfandels, Turley continues to set the benchmark for site-driven, organically farmed wines.

Founded in 1993 by former ER doctor Larry Turley, Turley Wine Cellars is famed for preserving very old Zinfandel vineyards, some more than a century old. Turley’s fascination with old vines began during his time co-founding Frog’s Leap Winery but realised his true passion lay with Zinfandel. Determined to focus solely on historic plantings, he sold his stake and launched Turley, persuading the owners of some of California’s oldest vineyards to hand over total control of viticulture to the Turley family so every growing decision is taken with quality in mind.

Winemaking is headed up by Tegan Passalacqua who joined Turley in 2003 and became director of winemaking in 2013, he oversees two production sites in St. Helena, Napa Valley and Paso Robles. Under his guidance the estate farms some 50 vineyards, covering 120 ha from as far north as Mendocino down to Paso Robles in the south, organically and focuses on traditional head-trained, dry-farmed vines that naturally yield small quantities of intensely flavoured fruit. While Zinfandel forms the lions share, Petite Syrah plays an important supporting role, often appearing in historic field blends alongside varieties such as Carignan and Cinsault.