Helen Turley is a pioneering

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

consultant. She is known for bringing several Californian

cult wine Cult wines are wines for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money. Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected or as investment wine to be held rather than consumed. Because price is often seen ...

s to the public awareness, and as the owner of a boutique

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

, Marcassin Vineyard. She is the recipient of several prestigious American wine awards, to include Wine Spectator's Distinguished Service Award and Food & Wine's Achievement Winemaker of the Year. Turley has mentored many California wine consultants, such as Mark Aubert, Jesse Hall, Philippe Melka, and

Heidi Barrett Heidi Peterson Barrett is an American winemaker and entrepreneur who has been responsible for some of California's most notable cult wines. Her career has included stints at Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Paradigm Winery, Grace Family ...

. In addition to consulting for wineries such as Pahlmeyer, Bryant Family Vineyard, Colgin, Martinelli and Blankiet, until 1995, she was the winemaker for

Turley Wine Cellars Turley Wine Cellars is a popular California wine producer with wineries in both Templeton, California, Templeton (Southern Cal-Paso Robles wine region) and St. Helena, California, St. Helena (Northern Cal-Napa Valley wine region). Turley wines are ...

Career

Turley graduated from Cornell's agricultural school in the 1970s, and moved to the Napa Valley, landing at

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

's lab. By 1984 she had her first job as a winemaker but began thinking differently about winemaking when she made two barrels of wine using wild yeast in 1989. During her career, Turley evangelized a variety of winemaking methods that were unique for their time. She was one of the first winemakers in California to use cold soaks and to focus on harvesting phenolically ripe fruit to as to make the wine as natural as possible. During the 1990s, Turley helped usher in the era of the superconsultant in California, taking startups such as Peter Michael, Colgin and Bryant Family to fame as her winegrowing regime pushed wine quality to new heights. She gained renown helping many small wineries make exceptional wine. "Don't get in the way of the wine," Turley drilled in her pupils and mentees; "If you've got the right vineyard—the right grapes—you can make great wine." At one point, Turley simultaneously made wines for Colgin, Bryant, Turley, Martinelli, Pahlmeyer, Green & Red, Harrison, La Jota, Landmark and Canepa, as well her and husband John Wetlaufer’s own label, Marcassin. Some of her early triumphs came with the Napa Valley Cabernets of Bryant and Colgin, which shared her signature style of bold and extracted flavors underscored by finesse, polish and refinement. Turley is also credited with helping raise the quality of Chardonnay in both Napa and Sonoma. With Marcassin, and the wines she made for Martinelli, Turley was instrumental in putting

Sonoma Coast The Sonoma Coast AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Sonoma County, California, United States containing more than , mostly along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean. It extends from San Pablo Bay to the border with Mendocino County. The appe ...

on the map. Helen Turley's last winemaking student at Martinelli winery was Jesse Hall.

Lawsuits

In 2001, the Roy Estate hired Turley and her husband, John Wetlaufer, to design their

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

vineyard and for Turley to serve as consulting winemaker. After making Roy Estate's 2003 & 2004 vintages, Turley canceled the arrangement in March 2005. The following September, the owners of Roy Estate filed a lawsuit against Turley and Wetlaufer alleging breach of contract. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court in May 2006.Penn, Cyril, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', (June 8, 2006)
Washington's largest wine company buys one of Oregon's oldest
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turley, Helen American viticulturists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American winemakers People from Napa County, California Cornell University alumni American female winemakers Wine merchants

Career

Lawsuits

See also

References