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.

 

Turley Spring Releases (mostly)
Tasted this week the New Turley '97 Spring releases:
Turley Zinfandel Old Vines (15.1%) '97: Dark color; attractive/spicy/dusty/meaty bit menthol/ pencilly/Fr.oaked slight volatile nose; soft/spicy/dusty/meaty bit pencilly/oaked pleasant raspberry/Zinfandel/fruity flavor; med.long spicy/raspberry/dusty/meaty some pencilly/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; very attractive up-front Zinfandel.
Turley Contra Costa Cnty Zinfandel Duarte Vnyd (15.5%) '97: Med.dark color; deep/dusty/ mushroomy/earthy rather aromatic/slight volatile some classic ContraCosta/plummy fruit nose; soft/lush dusty/mushroomy some plush/plummy/CCZin flavor; med.long soft plummy/ lush rather dusty/earthy/mushroomy somewhat lean/hard/tannic finish; lots of Contra Costa character but more structure than most; needs several yrs.
Turley Lodi Zinfandel Spenker Ranch (15.1%) '97: Dark color; rather earthy/mushroomy/meaty slight volatile/aromatic some pencilly/oaked light raspberry nose; soft dusty/earthy some meaty light pencilly/oaked bit tannic flavor; med. soft/earthy/dusty/mushroomy low raspberry fruit light pencilly/oaked finish w/ some tannins; very distinctly Lodi Zinfandel w/ it's earthy/dusty character & low fruit profile.
Turley Dry Creek Vlly Zinfandel Grist Vnyd (16.1%) '97: Med.color; classic DCV/fragrant/ raspberry/spicy bit meaty/pencilly nose; tart bright very spicy/raspberry/DCV/licorice slight meaty/pencilly/oaked flavor; very long elegant/zippy/bright very spicy/raspberry/ DCV/peppery bit minty/pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a fairly classic bright very spicy DCV Zinfandel.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Aida Vnyd (16.2%) '97: Med.dark color; very fragrant very spicy raspberry/complex pencilly/menthol/oaked slight meaty/complex nose; tart very spicy elegant/lush raspberry very texturd some pencilly/Fr.oaked flavor; very long pencilly/ Fr.oak loads of fruit/raspberry very spicy finish w/ some tannins; could use a few yrs of age; well-made fruit-driven Zinfandel.
Turley Napa Valley White Zinfandel Hoot-Smalley Vnyd (17.8%) '97: Pale salmon color; fragrant/ perfumed/aromatic/dusty old vines/complex/bergamots/RioGrande tadpoles/toasted Serbian oak/raspberry/cranberry/simple nose; dry (3.7% r.s.) fragrant/floral/bergamots/smokey/ toasty/oaked/complex/raspberry/dusty young vines flavor; very long/perfumed/complex/ charred oak/short finish w/ lush/sexy tanins; clearly needs some 17 yrs of age to reach the apogee characteristic of mature/well-aged WhiteZin. Good QPR at $73.19
Turley Alexander Vlly Zinfandel Vnyd 101 (15.9%) '97: Med.dark color; deep ripe blackberry/ licorice/Zinfandel very spicy some pencilly/Fr.oaked aromatic nose; soft very lush bright raspberry/blackberry/licorice very spicy bit dusty flavor; very long very spicy bright blackberry/raspberry light pencilly/oaked some pungent/licorice finish w/ light tannins; seems fairly a forward Zinfandel and the most typical Zinfandel of the set.
Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel TofanelliVnyd (15.7%) '97: Med.dark color; very spicy/licorice some blackberry slight meaty bit pencilly/Fr.oaked perfumed nose; tart rich very spicy/ blackberry fairly intense/complex bit dusty/pencilly/oaked flavor; very long very spicy ripe/blackberry light pencilly/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs.
Turley Napa Valley Charbono TofanelliVnyd (15.8%) '97: Black color; intense licorice/ pungent rather gamey/Syrah-like/meaty/smoked hot dog earthy/dusty complex some toasty/ oaked nose; rich rather earthy/dusty/licorice/pungent/smoked hot dog complex flavor; long meaty/gamey/dusty/earthy/licorice/chocolaty/pungent/smokey toasted/oak finish w/ hard tannins; very interesting/complex rather hard/tannic wine that needs much age; it will be interesting to see how this ages (if'n I had another bottle, which I don't)
Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Aida Vnyd (13.7%) '97: Black color; rather earthy classic PS/peppery/dusty/bit licorice/smokey/pungent slight cheesy/funky nose; hard/tannic some peppery/PS/licorice rather pungent/smokey bit clunky/funky/Rhonish some menthol/ toasty/oaked flavor; med.long hard/tannic peppery/licorice bit clunky/Rhonish some pungent/toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ ample tannins; a classic big/huge/tannic Calif Petite that needs age; should be a great one w/ age like the Ridge YorkCreeks.
Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Rattlesnake Acres Vnyd (15.0%) '97: Black color; more fruit/ blackberry/spicy/aromatic/licorice slight floral/herbal complex nose; soft lush/round/ licorice/blackberry/peppery spicy bit toasty/Fr.oaked dusty flavor; soft fat lush strong peppery/licorice/some blackberry/pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs some 2-5 yrs of age; soft fat & fairly lush for PS.
Nichols Central Coast Zinfandel Cienega Vlly Vnyd Unfltrd (13.5%) '96: Med.bit murkey color; rather herbal near-vegetal walnutty SantaBarbaraCnty-like earthy/toasty/pungent slight blackberry nose; tart bit dishwater/funky very walnutty/herbal light blackberry rather eccentric flavor; long very herbal/walnutty/dusty/pungent/earthy bit blackberry finish w/ light tannins; very herbal/walnutty SantaBarbaraCnty-like in character; a rather eccentric Zinfandel w/ some interesting things therein.
Carneros Creek Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Nathan Fay Vnyd (12.6%) '77: Med.dark color; very strong bretty/horsecollar some smokey/oaked rather old/Bordeaux very complex nose; soft smooth elegant rather horsecollar/bretty some cedary/old Bordeaux bit earthy flavor; long light cedary/old Bordeaux rather bretty/horsecollar/adhesive tape complex/elegant finish w/ little tannins; getting a bit long of tooth but still an attractive mature/ old Bordeaux-like Cab.
Dry Creek Vnyd Dry Creek Vlly Zinfandel Late Harvest (15.5%; SaH: 30%; RS: 3%) '97: Med.dark color; very ripe bright raspberry/blackberry bit raisened/overripe nose; soft off-dry very ripe raspberry/blackberry/boysenberry some spicy flavor; med.long off-dry bright raspberry/ blackberry/spicy bit overripe bit hot/alcoholic overripe finish w/ light tannins; lots of very ripe/overripe raspberry fruit.
Carneros Creek Wnry Amador Cnty Zinfandel Late Picked Esola Vnyd (15.4%; RS: 6.3%; SaH: 33.5%) '78: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice bit alcoholic/porty/ raisenedoverripe nose; sweet bit alcoholic/porty intense blackberry/Amador briary/spicy flavor; long very ripe/overripe intense blackberry/boysenberry/Amador briary sweet finish w/ ample tannins; still a very healthy Zinfandel but not much development or complexity; will last another 5-10 yrs probably.

And the usual oeno-babble from the bloody pulpit:
I've pretty much followed all the Turley Zins/reds from the very start. They have had a distinct style that I (though many others don't) happen to appreciate and like. This set of Zins seemed to represent a bit of a departure from the style of the previous ones. Many of the '97 Zins we've been tasting, I've sensed a sort of diluteness and lack of intensity & focus that I've attributed to the high production levels of many vnyds in the '97 vintage. Although these '97 Turleys were not as big & extracted & tannic of many of the earlier ones, I did NOT have that same sense of overproduction in them. They DID seem more restrained, more balanced, more elegant, more finesse, and not so oaked as in previous yrs. When you start to get Zins in the 15%-16%+ range, you often start to get a taste & smell of overripeness and even raisened character. That was not in these wines that I could tell. I thought they all carried their high alcohol levels very well and I got no sense of alcoholic hotness or fumey character in any of them. The next day, at warm room temperature, they were indeed rather fumey; so it seems that these Zins should be carefully served at the usual cool room temperatures (low 60's). Another characteristic I found in these '97 Zins was the well-integrated character of the oak. In previous vintages, the Fr.oak seemed a bit more obvious and blatant. In these '97's, the pencilly, sometimes menthol, oak was there in all of them, but not at all overdone. And all these '97's seemed to show a bit of a meaty/gamey character that I often get in Calif Syrah. Yet another characteristic I found in these '97 Turleys is that they seemed much more expressive of their vnyd origins, their terrior. In the past, the Turley winemaking style seemed to dominate the wines. The wines seemed less forced into Turley style. I've heard some comments on the '97 Turleys that they are not as big & over-the-top as previous vintages have been. Perhaps that's true. But I REALLY liked these wines. They were much like the best Ridges (maybe the ultimate accolade for ANY Zinfandel) in their complexity. I'd keep going back to them and finding different things in them each time.
In keeping with Turley corporate policy of overtaking the Trincheros by Year 2021, Larry Turley and Ehren Jordan boosted production of their famed Hoot-Smalley White Zinfandel by a whopping 43%; this year up from 3 btls to 4 (one for Larry Turley, one for Ehren Jordan, one for the Los Alamos contingent...as in last year). Once again, Helen Turley was NOT placed on the mailing list for this legendary WhiteZin. Instead, it was auctioned off at an eBay auction and went for a substantial $26,271.29; a new record for WhiteZin on eBay. The bidding was very spirited between Bruce El., a slightly disreputable LA attourney and Berry Larva-Vermin, of the richly-endowed LasVegas Ree-Oh Casin-O, until Mr. El dropped out at the $26,270 mark. Mr. Larva-Vermin's intent was to destroy the wine, untasted, so the world will never find out just how good WhiteZin can be; thereby protecting his considerable personal investment in SutterHut Wnry. Mr. Larva- Vermin (Monsieur Lar-vin as he's affectionately called by close intimates) reportedly smashed the bottle to smithereens with a hatchet borrowed from the Carrie Nation Museum in Colgan, Kansas; the first time this fearsome device had been used outside Kansas in the last 80 yrs. The event was a sad day for the wine world as the last drops of this precious beverage dribbled into the drain whilst broad-winged black vultures and Screaming Eagles slowly circled overhead. This highly-sought-after WhiteZin comes from the fabled Hoot-Smalley Vnyd, out back of the rather ramshackle wood-sided SutterHut Wnry located on the St.Helena Hwy, across from the Looee Martinee winery. In order to capture the essence of the Hoot-Smalley fruit from this single-vine vnyd; Mr. Jordan requestioned the huge SutterHut mechanical harvester from the adjacent SutterHut equiptment shed. With a capacity of 800 tons/hr; this behemoth machine made short work of the single vine in Hoot-Smalley, harvesting all 7 bunches in 5.3 msec, with a record amount of MOG. Mr. Trinchero, Grand Poobah of Sutter Hut, was reportedly very upset with grapes actually being harvested so near to his "winery" that he departed from a ceremony honoring the 20-million'th visitor to the SutterHut tasting room and confronted the Turley crew. In this face-off, the smart money was clearly on the towering, bewhiskered figure of Larry Turley and Mr. Trinchero meekly returned to the ceremony, now honoring the 21'st million visitor to their tasting room.
The Charbono: This is sort of a mystery grape in Calif. It has been made into some fairly interesting wines by Ch. Souverain and Inglenook. One of the best I've had has come from Kent Rasmussen. It was reportedly the backbone of many of the old Beaulieu Vnyd Burgundys made by Andre Teletschef. It has been labeled as the same variety as the Charbonneau/Douce Noir of the Savoie region in France. It has also been called the same as Dolcetto Nero of Italy. And also linked to the Mondeuse variety of the Jura in France. The versions from Calif have all been similar to those varietal counterparts above from Europe; not a lot of fruit or fragrance, rather earthy/dusty bit clunky in character w/ fairly high acids and rough tannins. It seems to be a variety, much like Petite Sirah, that can best be used in small amounts as a blending grape to give substance & structure to other varietal wines. This Turley version, their first to my knowledge, was by far the best Charbono I've ever had. Still showing much of the earthy/dusty/hard character of Charbono, this one was very well-made, very interesting, and more approachable than any others I've had. Probably as long-lived as any of the Turley PetiteSirahs would be my guess.
The PetiteSirahs: Quite a difference in character in these two PS's. The Aida was much more typical of the Turley PS's, big huge & rough/tannic; clearly one that needs some age. It reminded me some of a few of the Ridge YorkCreeks/Devil'sHill Petites that actually matured into some pretty amazing wines. The Rattlesnake PS is, to me, more characteristic of Calif PS, soft & fat; but with more fruit & lushness than most of them tend to have. Two very well-made PS's, and I'm not a big fan of Calif PS.
Some of the usual Turley culprits were not present. The Hayne Zinfandel & PS and a DogTown Amador Zinfandel and (I presume) Black-Sears Zinfandel are scheduled for a Fall release.
The two Carneros Creek wines were a sharing from John & Adele Hopkins. The Cab was starting to get a bit over-mature, but still a very good example of old Calif Cab. CarnerosCreekWnry has made some pretty good Cabs over the yrs but nobody ever seems to notice. The EsolaLatePicked was the wine that caused Frank Mahoney to swear off Zinfandel when the grapes came in so overripe. Alas, for Frank made some of the best Amador Zins ever made, starting back w/ the '74 vintage. He and Paul Draper easily made the best Zins ever from Chet Eschen's Fiddletown vnyd. This Esola LatePicked seems to be in sort of a state of suspended animation. It's not shown much development or complexity since I had my last bottle some 10 yrs ago.