Wine · St. Helena and Templeton, California
Turley Wine Cellars
Old-vine California Zinfandel, from vineyards rescued and farmed with care.
- Founded
- 1993
- Founded by
- Larry Turley
- Based in
- St. Helena and Templeton, California
Making it since
1993
Their story
Larry Turley grew up in Tennessee and spent years as an emergency room physician. In 1981 he helped start Frog's Leap Winery in Napa Valley with John Williams, and in 1993 he founded Turley Wine Cellars in St. Helena under his own name.
The winery later grew to Templeton, near Paso Robles, where it bought the historic Pesenti winery. Zinfandel has grown on that site since 1923.
Turley's focus has always been old vineyards, some planted in the late 1800s and early 1900s, that might otherwise have been pulled out. Over the years the winery has made wine from more than 50 sites across California.
How it's made
Turley works with long-term growers and farms organically, with many old vines dry farmed and younger vines given some irrigation. In the cellar, wines go through native yeast fermentations and are handled with a light, restrained touch so each vineyard shows its own character.
I've never met a vineyard so weathered I was not driven to coax it back to life
Why we carry them
If you want to understand California Zinfandel, Turley is a great place to start. We love comparing bottlings side by side to taste how much each old vineyard brings.
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