Turley Wine Cellars was founded in 1993 by Larry Turley and specializes in small lots of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from some of California’s most historic and treasured vineyards. Dogtown Vineyard is in Lodi, and the vines date back to the 1940’s. Turley has sourced fruit from Dogtown since the 1997 vintage.
The wine is surprisingly light in color. The nose is all about brambly red fruits. Raspberries, pepper and licorice on the palate. It may be light in color, but there is no shortage of jammy, ripe and hedonistic fruit. The finish is long, sweet and exquisite. If there is such a thing as an elegant, restrained Turley Zinfandel… this is it.
My rating: 93 points
2005 was widely considered a poor vintage for Zinfandel but this wine is a home run. Turley wines are available at retail, via the mailing list and even at the tasting room in Templeton, California.
As a side note, I question how a publication like the Wine Advocate can give a vintage rating to Zinfandel when the wines are sourced from vineyards throughout the state. Perhaps a future blog post?
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The dogtown vineyard is one of my favorite vineyards in California. 100 plus year old beautiful head trained vines that struggle to produce any fruit whatsoever. Consistently one of my favorite Turley’s produced each year and I think Turley is still fighting a perception of making over the top styles of wine. If you look at the wines produced over the last 5 or so vintages you will find wines that are more balanced, elegant and full flavored as opposed to heavy handed.
I could not agree more about the wines being elegant and balanced in recent years. I think many get hung up on the ABV printed on the label without giving the wine in the bottle its due.