Vertical Tasting of Turley's Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard

Although Turley Wine Cellars is best known for its remarkable ever-growing range of Zinfandels from mostly very old vines all over California, when it comes to older vintages it’s the Hayne Vineyard Petite Syrah that the winery’s long-time clients are most likely to have in their cellars. And judging from my recent comprehensive tasting of this singular wine, they won't be disappointed when they uncork these bottles: this wine has proved remarkably consistent over the years and the best vintages appear to be virtually ageless.

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Larry Turley discusses Hayne Vineyard Petite Syrah, here

The vertical tasting was held in March with owner Larry Turley, daughter Christina Turley, who directs sales and marketing, and winemaker/viticulturalist Tegan Passalacqua in the Turleys’ Olive House at the family compound on Highway 29 north of St. Helena. And it was nothing short of a revelation. The fruit in most of these wines appears to be bulletproof. Ten-year-old bottles showed the color of barrel samples; most of the vintages from the ‘90s still looked like young wines. More important, the wines were evolving in a positive way, becoming more pliant and harmonious in bottle and gaining in complexity rather than simply enduring.

The key to the slow aging and longevity of Petite Sirah, according to winemaker Passalacqua, is its combination of lowish pHs and huge anthocyanin content. “In barrel as well as in bottle, the wines remain in a reductive state,” he told me. “They want to resist oxygen. It’s almost as if there’s a soft shell around them.” As the Hayne example boasts outstanding depth of fruit without hard tannins, it is usually accessible upon release. Our vertical tasting also suggested that extended aging brings greater sex appeal along with easier drinkability.

The Hayne Vineyard is planted on head-trained, dry-farmed vines on gravelly loam soil off Sulphur Springs Avenue on the west side of St. Helena, just south of the center of town. Vine spacing is 10 by 8 feet. The Zinfandel on this property dates back to 1903; the Petite Sirah was planted in 1953. Turley began offering both of these bottlings in his winery’s first vintage, 1993.