About
Turley Wine Cellars was founded in Napa Valley by Larry Turley in 1993. Because Larry has never met an old vine vineyard he didn’t like, Turley now makes 34 separate wines from 38 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800s. Often weak and decaying, these old vine vineyards require extra care and attention in order to restore them to their former glory. After twenty-five years as an emergency room physician, Larry can now focus his resuscitative skills on the various old vineyards that comprise the wines he loves. All of the vineyards are either certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers or somewhere in the process, and only natural yeasts are used in the fermentations. By focusing on old vine Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs in particular, Turley aims to both create and preserve California’s unique winemaking culture.
Though the vast majority of Turley’s wines are single vineyard designates, Turley Juvenile Zinfandel is actually composed of a variety of young vines that have been replanted in several of their old vine sites. They tag the vine when replanted so as not to mix the brand new vine with its much older neighbors, then pick these young vines separately and make a distinct wine. The vines that make up Juvenile range in age from about 6-25 years, and are pulled from 15 vineyards across California, including Hayne, Ueberroth, Pesenti, Salvador, and Vineyard 101.