2014 Turley Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard – Bottle Notes

The 2014 Turley Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard was the winning bottle in the January Installment of Pick My Next Bottle. I did not decant the wine. It paired perfectly with some homemade spaghetti.

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. Turley now makes right around 28 separate wines from 35 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800’s. Tegan Passalacqua is the Director of Winemaking at Turley and has been instrumental in revitalizing the brand.

Pesenti Vineyard, in Paso Robles, is estate-owned and certified organic. The vineyard was planted by the Turley team using cuttings from the Hayne vineyard.

Magenta in color and a whopping 15.8% ABV. Brilliant nose of juicy red and black fruits, pepper and flowers. Full bodied with perfect acidity. Well balanced. Raspberry liqueur, salmonberry, white pepper and a touch of citrus on the palate. The finish is extraordinary. For me this is one of the top 3-4 Zins in the Turley single vineyard lineup. So good now but the stuffing is there to drink over the next 3-5 years.

My rating: 95 points.

With all due respect to Carlisle and Bedrock, Turley is arguably the best Zinfandel producer in California. Exceptional vineyards sources throughout the state of California and no detail spared in the winemaking process. The wines are simply better than ever.

Turley wines are available via the mailing list and periodically at retail. Turley has tasting rooms in both Amador and Paso Robles. If you are not on the mailing list, this is an easy way to secure bottles. Both are not to be missed if you are in the area.

Turley was a big winner in The 2017 Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings.

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