by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

Zinfandel and Syrah
Got to finally taste thru my Turleys last night:
Folie a Deux Fiddletown Zinfandel Old Vine Eschen Vineyard (13.5%) '96: Med.color; fragrant spicy slight cherry/black cherry bit oaked/perfumed nose; tart hard very spicy bit lean rather spicy/cherry tannic light oaked flavor; long spich/cherry tart lean hard tannic bit dusty finish; that classic Eschen hardness on the palate; needs 3-6 yrs of age; more like Sangiovese than Zinfandel.
Folie a Deux Amador County Syrah (13.5%) '96: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah some oaked/pencilly/toasty slight pungent nose; tart bright cherry/blackberry/ Syrah spicy rather oaked/toasty flavor; long spicy fragrant cherry/blackberry tart perfumed/oaked/pencilly finish w/ some tannins; lots of toasty/Fr.oak; rather Aussie in style; not a lot of Amador/jammy character; nicely done Syrah.
Turley Calif Zinfandel Old Vines (14.6%) '96: Med.color; fragrant very spicy some raspberry/Zinfandel aromatic rather pencilly/toasty oaked nose; tart chocolaty/ raspberry very spicy/perfumed some tobaccoy/pencilly/pungent/oaked flavor; long very aromatic/spicy raspberry strong pencilly/tobaccoy/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a very spicy very perfumed aromatic balanced nice drink Zinfandel.
Turley Contra Costa Cnty Zinfandel DuarteVnyd (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; lovely lush plummy/CCCnty blackberry dusty aromatic some pungent oaked nose; soft bit alcoholic ripe/plummy/blackberry bit earthy/dusty some pungent/oaked flavor; long very pummy/blackberry some dusty/mushroomy some pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a fairly big rich plummy Zinfandel w/ good ContraCosta character; not as soft & fat & fleshy as most CC Zins. $22.00
Turley Howell Mountain Zinfandel Black-Sears Vnyd (15.0%) '96: Med.dark color; fragrant raspberry spicy/toasted/pencilly/oaked very aromatic some dusty/earthy nose; hard tannic dusty/HM/old vines earthy some blackberry strong pencilly/oaked very spicy flavor; very long meaty/dusty/old vines/earthy/HM rather aromatic/ blackberry/raspberry very pencilly/oaked complex finish w/ some tannins; lots of spicy fruit but that classic HM dusty/hardness underneath; a very interesting complex Zinfandel that needs 3-5 yrs.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Aida Vnyd (15.6%) '96: Med.dark color; big ripe lush black- berry very ripe some toasty/oaked nose; very ripe (off-dry??) intense blackberry very lush rather pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; very ripe intense blackberry/jammy very lush (bit over-)ripe rather toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; almost has that high-toned spiciness of Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel than Napa Zinfandel; not particularly hot or alcoholic bit tastes & smells a bit on the overripe side.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Whitney-Tenessee Vineyard (15.3%) '96: Dark color; deep intense blackberry/fragrant very spicy rather toasty/pungent/smokey/oak nose; tart rich lush framboise/blackberry very spicy buttery/toasty/oaked complex dusty/old vines flavor; very long complex/dusty/old vines toasty/pungent/oak ripe black- berry/framboise finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; more classic Turley in style.
Turley Napa Valley White Zinfandel Hoot-Smalley Vineyard (18.7%) '97: Black pink/salmon very dusty color; elegant dusty/old vines perfumed dusty cranberry toasty/oaked dusty nose; bright dusty zingy spicy dusty cranberry dusty rather dusty/oaked flavor; very long dusty lingering cranberry dusty some oaked bit dusty finish w/ hard/ brutal/dusty tannins; a classic Turley White Zinfandel that needs 7-15 yrs; this, the most sought-after & highly-allocated of the Turley Zins, comes from a tiny 4-vine plot at 277 St.Helena Hwy that was planted by one Bob Trinchero on the passage of the Hoot-Smalley Tariff act that opend up the French/fine Bordeaux market to importation of the reknowned SutterHome White Zinfandel, causing a huge crash in that market. Despite an astonishing 50% increase in production level (now at 3 btls; one for Larry Turley, one for Tom Hill, and now one for Ehren Jordan) the quality level remains incredibly high and is expected to compete, mano e mano, w/ the finest of the Sutter Home offerings. $3.17
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Moore/Earthquake Vineyard (15.1%) '96: Med.dark color; deep blackberry very spicy aromatic toasty/pungent/oaked aromatic/dusty nose; soft rich very pungent/toasty/oaked ripe blackberry/dusty old vines perfumed meaty/ complex flavor; very long soft rich pungent/smokey oaked dusty/old vines ripe blackberry lush spicy/aromatic finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a very interesting spicy/aromatic complex Zinfandel.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Tofanelli Vineyard (15.9%) '96: Dark color; some volatile/fumey very aromatic very perfumed very ripe bit alcoholic spicy raspberry some toasty/ oak slight herbal nose; tart very ripe (off-dry??) very spicy/raspberry light toasty/oaked flavor; long very ripe raspberry complex light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a bit on the overripe side; more in that slightly fumey/Ravenswood style than Turley.
Turley Alexander Valley Zinfandel Vineyard 101 (15.8%) '96: Very dark near black color; deep complex very dusty/old vines intense blackberry/extracted some toasty/pencilly/ oaked nose; big huge rich extracted blackberry/framboise dusty/old vines complex some pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; very long very intense framboise/blackberry complex/dusty/old vines pungent/toasty/oak extracted finish; needs 3-8 yrs; an incredible complex Zinfandel much like the Sherrer '96 in character but more toasty/oak; my favorite of these Zins (after the Hoot-Smalley).
Turley Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel Grist Vineyard (16.3%) '96: Med.dark color; strong spicy/ complex ripe raspberry bit hot/alcoholic/fumey bright light oak nose; tart very ripe (off-dry??) bright spicy raspberry light oak bit shrill/alcoholic flavor; long bit hot/alcoholic bright very ripe raspberry spicy light oak finish w/ some tannins; a bit on the hot/fumey/overripe side but the DryCreek raspberry comes thru.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard (17.0%) '96: Very dark color; deep intense pungent smokey/oaked blackberry/licorice/chocolaty dusty/complex nose; soft very ripe chocolaty/licorice/blackberry/jammy dusty/old vines some pungent/toasty/oak flavor; very long lingering very ripe blackberry/chocolaty/licorice light pungent oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 4-8 yrs; lots of very ripe flavors but not on the overripe/fumey side; carries 17.0% alcohol well.
Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Hayne Vineyard (15.0%) '96: Black color; very intense peppery dusty earthy licorice some pungent/oaked nose; very hard intense peppery/ licorice dusty/old vines light pungent/smokey/oak flavor; long very hard/tannic dusty/old vines licorice/pepper light smokey/oak finish; huge tannic clunky PS in the old early-'70's style of Ridge & freemark Abbey York Creeks. Needs mucho age.
Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Aida Vineyard (13.8%) '96: Black color; more fragrant aromatic peppery/chocolaty dusty/old vines some pungent/smokey/minty-menthol/ oaked slight brett nose; softer huge extracted peppery/licorice very extracted light pungent/menthol/oaked flavor; very long hard very tannic peppery/chocolate dusty/old vines very extracted some menthol/pungent/oaked finish; needs much age; bit like the Ridge York Creek PS '71.

And of course the usual inanities from the bloody pulpit:
The Turley Zins are always a controversial subject; many dislike their huge extracted alcoholic style. It's a style that I find unique and happen to like; not for good drinking in the here & now, but for what they MIGHT become down the road aways. In previous vintages, I've found the Turley winemaking style seeming to dominate the vnyd origins of the wines. And though most of them were on the alcoholic side, I never found the alcohol particularly obtrusive or offensive and they never seemed to have that pruney/jammy/raisend character of overripe grapes. This expanded set of '96 Zins struck me as a bit different in style from the previous Turleys. A bit more restrained, perhaps, both on the alcohol levels and the levels of extraction; a bit more balanced & supple. Not lighter.... just a bit more complete wines. And the winemaking style seemed to be less dominant and the vnyd origins showed thru a bit more. Since Ehren Jordan is certainly not one to make wines by rote formula, perhaps he adjusted his winemaking to reflect the (alleged) lightness of the '96 vintage. And several of the Zins had the character that overripe grapes show in some wines. In some of the Zins, the alcohol levels seemed a bit more obtrusive than they had in previous vintages. But every one of these wines I thought were pretty outstanding.
The Petite Sirahs..... real throw-backs to that old Calif style of making PS that Ridge & Freemark Abbey did in the early '70's. More specific; these two '96 PS reminded me of the huge,extracted PS that Carneros Creek and Mt.Veeder made from Marston Vineyard grapes in the 75 vintage. Huge extracted massive very tannic PS. You thought they would live forever. They didn't; they're both pretty much dead now. They never really did come around before what small amount of fruit they once had vanished. I never did catch them at a point they were a genuine pleasure to drink. OTOH, the Ridge York Creek PS '71, '72, '73 showed that same old-style winemaking, perhaps a bit less tannic in their youth, a bit more fruit. And they had aabout a 10-12 yr window where they were really great drinking; one of the few examples of Calif PS that DID mature into great old wines. So, with the huge extraction levels these Turley PSs have (though they DO have a bit more fruit than most Calif PSs), one wonders which kind of PS they will be: ones that never come around, or ones that DO mature into wonderful wines. I would guess the latter. Alas, I only have 2 more data points on each one.
The two new Folie a Deux reds.... a real step up in quality from any wines from FaD ever made in the past. Scott Harvey has really turned that place around on a dime. On one hand, I was sorta expecting him to just continue w/ the winemaking style that he had done at Renwood/Santino. It doesn't look like that's the case. Both of these wines show a bit more restraint, a bit more balance, a bit more complexity, a bit more complete wines, than what he was last doing at Renwood. Definitely, a winery to keep your eyes on over the next few yrs.