2014 Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard

A few years ago I began to split my fall tasting at Turley in two sessions after having had a near-death experience when I foolishly decided to taste the entire range in two vintages back to back. Since then, Turley has expanded their range. Even so, these wines are a pure pleasure to taste, as they are incredibly faithful expressions of their respective sites. With a few exceptions, the 2014 from bottle are just as impressive as they were from barrel. A few wines show the effects of the drought in their very ripe, at times roasted, profiles, while some of the wines are a bit heavy. The Petites in particular are stunning in 2014. When one takes into account pricing, these are some of the greatest values anywhere in the world of wine.

Once again my fall tastings at Turley ran into two sessions. I may soon have to add another, as the range keeps expanding. Larry Turley and his winemaker, Tegan Passalacqua show no signs of slowing down at all, that is for sure. Overall, I found the 2013s to be truly exceptional from top to bottom. It's pretty much hard to go wrong with any of the 2013s, many of which will also prove to be exceptionally long-lived. Vintage 2014 is a bit less consistent. With a few exceptions, the Zinfandels are on the lighter side by Turley standards, even though the drought lowered yields dramatically in some spots. The vintage is stronger and more consistent across the Petite Sirahs and Cabernets. Acidities were lower than normal, while pHs were correspondingly higher, and the wines saw more time on the skins because the extractions did not come easy. As always, the wines are endowed with considerable flair. Turley, an avid home chef, pilot and former ER doctor, attacks every project with outsize enthusiasm and a wicked sense of humor. All of those qualities come through loud and clear in these wines. Pricing remains exceedingly fair considering the quality of what goes into the bottle.