I recently celebrated my 10 year anniversary with Turley Wine Cellars, the esteemed producer of fine Cailfornia Zinfandels. There was no party, exchange of gifts or hope for a happy ending just me with my glass of 2002 Ueberroth Vineyard Zinfandel. This wine is full of complexity on the nose with mixed black/red berries, asian spices, briar. The palate echoes the aromatics but also includes a touch of green herbs and white pepper rounding out the complex flavor. Turns our former MLB commish Peter Ueberroth owns this property chock full of old vine zins planted near the turn of the century. I like baseball and Turley so I'm going to assume this is a happy coincidence and not begrudge Mr. Ueberroth's luck and ability to procure killer California wine real estate. My first bottle of Turley was in 1998 which makes me a bit late the game but early enough to get on the allocation list before finding this heavenly nectar became extremely challenging.
That first bottle for me was not a zinfandel at all but a 1994 Hayne Vineyard Petite Sirah which was arguably the most profound, mind blowing wine I had ever had. The explosive fruit and profound aroma was leaping out of the glass and the aggressively edgy tannins were taunting my impatience and inexperience like a first show deadhead who came to hear "Touch of Grey" and "Sugar Magnolia" and was subjected to a 60 minute "drums>space>Dark Star" tease without context. Simply stated, I didn't really comprehend what was happening.
The debut PS vintage for Turley with Hayne was 1993 and apparently the '94 impressed Mr. Parker with the efforts of Larry and his winemaking sister Helen to garner a 97+ rating. After that first glass my acquisition of these wines turned into an obsession. You need money and connections for these wines and both were and are still are in short supply but if you can track these down (most likely in a fine restaurant where much of the production ends up) order it! Ironically, they're challenging with food as the deep extraction, complexity and sweetness often makes them a better pairing with cheese than as a compliment for meat, foul or fish. Though I've had success with curries and grilled foods depending on the sweetness of the marinade. More stories to come including pissing off Europeans with Turleys...
2 comments:
Was very happy to find this post... I'm a little later to the Turley party than you, but still very glad I found my way there. First bottle was at a restaurant in NYC, a friend who worked there brought it over to the table where I was having dinner with my girlfriend, who was soon to be my fiance, then wife, then mother of our two amazing daughters. The friend sat down and the three of us drank the bottle - must have been a Zin from '96 or '97? Not sure... could have been a Hayne.
I bought my first two bottles at Park Avenue Liquors in NYC and paid some ridiculous after-market sum. Then I got on the waiting list for the mailing list and... we waited.
I got my first "allocation" in Spring 2001, remember the day precisely because it was the same day the baby furniture was delivered in our NYC apartment... My pregnant wife fixated on the new crib and changing table, I fixated on the precious piece of wine-stained mail from Larry Turley, he was offering 6 bottles in that first allocation, and we've continued to buy - every Spring and every Fall - ever since. Tremendous stuff. You are right about the food pairing challenges, though... when we host family or friends we typically uncork Turleys during the pre-meal "welcoming/cheese" course, which starts things off on a great note. Drink the rest just the two of us, after dinner, before dinner, whenever. Thanks again for this post!
I have a little list of defining vendor relationships on my own blog, "I think this world is perfect..." and have been very proud to include a link to the Turley site under the words "I drink this," since I launched my site.
Hey thanks for your response to the Turley post! It's great wine to be sure. Being on the list for so long is a mixed blessing though since the bigger quantity of allocated volume means bigger check needed during mailing list season. I swear these guys all pick the same week for their mailings. Speaking of which if you're not on Martinelli's list sign up! Their Jackass and Guiseppe and Luisa are at least good as Turley..no suprise since Helen Turley was the winemaker for the Martinelli family...
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