Turley Wine Cellars is a popular

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

producer with wineries in both Templeton (Southern Cal-

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

wine region) and

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

(Northern Cal-

Napa Valley wine 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 ...

region). Turley wines are often recognized as "making some of the best, if not the best Zinfandel in California for decades." Becoming a member of the winery's private

wine club A wine club is a developing extension of modern wine culture. Wine clubs are designed to provide customers with a series of wine bottles on a monthly or quarterly basis that they would otherwise have to find and purchase on their own. Wine clubs o ...

can take up to two years. Turley specializes in wines made from old-vine red

Zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kaštel ...

. They source fruit from older vineyards, some date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In previous issues of ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'' magazine, Turley wines have received favorable reviews.

History

In 1993, Turley Wine Cellars was founded by Larry Turley, brother of the well-known consulting winemaker

Helen Turley Helen Turley is a pioneering American winemaker and wine consultant. She is known for bringing several Californian cult wines to the public awareness, and as the owner of a boutique winery, Marcassin Vineyard. She is the recipient of several pre ...

. Turley had entered the wine business in 1981 as co-founder of the multi-varietal

Frog's Leap Winery Frog's Leap Winery is a California wine producer that operates from Rutherford. It was founded in 1981 on a spot along Mills Creek known as Frog Farm. Frog's Leap Winery was established by John Williams and Larry Turley. In addition to their a ...

, but soon realized that his interest lay in wines made from the Zinfandel grape. Starting out with just one location in St. Helena, Turley Wine Cellars soon expanded to Templeton with the purchase of the historic Pesenti winery, where Zinfandel had been planted since 1923.

Production

By 2011, Turley Wine Cellars is annually producing approximately 16,000 cases of award-winning Zinfandel and Petite Sirah wines using multiple "small" vineyards located in Napa and Sonoma counties, and other Paso Robles locations.

References

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External links

Turley Wine Cellars
Wineries in California Paso Robles, California St. Helena, California