Turley Wine Cellars Duarte Vineyard Zinfandel, Contra Costa County, USA

戴利杜阿爾特園仙粉黛紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：4085

From old vines growing in sand in Contra Costa County, the 2016 Zinfandel Duarte Vineyard offers up aromas of sweet cherries, raspberries, red fruit preserve, bay leaf and licorice. On the palate, it's full-bodied, generous and fleshy, with rich, youthfully chewy structuring tannins and considerable concentration, depth and matter.

Playing it closer to the vest, but still impressive is the 2014 Zinfandel Duarte Vineyard, which comes from sandy soils as well as vines planted between 1890 and 1930 in Contra Costa County. This is another heady Zinfandel (15.5% alcohol) that exhibits a nice, dark ruby color and loamy soil undertones intermixed with blueberry, strawberry and cherry. It seems to be slightly more reserved and tighter, but spicy and rich. This seems like a candidate to improve for another several years and drink beautifully for another 7-8.

It represents the more feminine side of Lodi, particularly when compared to the blockbuster Dogtown. I often comment on different terroirs, and certainly the influences of beach-like, sandy soils are present in the 2013 Zinfandel Duarte Vineyard from Contra Costa County. Coming in at 15.2% alcohol, the wine is black and dark red-fruited, with plenty of pepper, spice and loads of round, opulent, silky characteristics. This particular offering didn’t offer the incredible finish that most of these 2013s seem to possess. It is medium-bodied, elegant and best drunk over the next 4-5 years.

Both the 2012 Zinfandel Duarte and 2012 Zinfandel Salvador are deep and richly fruity with the Salvador seemingly more intense than the open-knit, loamy, peppery, spicy Duarte. Turley Wine Cellars has long been one of the more enviable wine operations in California. Larry Turley should, and does, receive enormous credit for nearly single-handedly preserving many of the heritage old vine Zinfandel sites that exist in northern California. Most of them were threatened with being torn up with what was believed to be more popular varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. This estate produces nearly thirty single vineyard Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs, all from organically farmed vineyards. Natural yeast fermentations have always been the rule, and the percentage of new oak used has dropped from a high of 30% to about half that. Their Zinfandels are never shy, but tasting through the 2012s, it appears they are not as extracted as they once were, but the alcohols remain in the 15% to 16% range because Zinfandel is rarely ripe at lower sugars. It appears that Larry Turley was destined to resuscitate these old vine vineyards as he worked for a quarter of a century as an emergency room doctor. He now works full time shaping wines from nearly three dozen old vine parcels. As he says, he’s never met an old vine vineyard he didn’t like. Turley’s long-time assistant winemaker, Ehren Jordan, has left to pursue his own project (Failla Wines), but Turley has the highly competent Tegan Passalacqua as his wingman. Virtually every one of these 2012 Zinfandels will be drinkable upon release in 2014, and should last for 6-8 years. Larry Turley was one of the first to exploit some of the old vine vineyards planted in sandy soils from the backwater areas of Lodi and Contra Costa. The two Contra Costa sites include the Duarte and Salvador, both ancient vineyards with the Salvador directly planted on its own roots in 1896. The Duarte was named after a prominent grower in Contra Costa. The Petite Syrahs are different animals altogether and most of them should keep for 30-40 years – at a minimum! Tel. (707) 963-0940

An attractive, fruit-forward wine, Turley’s 2011 Zinfandel Duarte is soft, caressing and very nicely balanced. This juicy, vibrant Zinfandel has more than enough depth to drink nicely for a number of years. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018. This is a thrilling set of wines from Larry Turley, Ehren Jordan and Tegan Passalacqua. Tasting this wide a range of 2010 and 2011 Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs is like taking a master class in California terroir. The house style favors an expression of Zinfandel and Petite Syrah built on aromatic intensity and elegance, which Jordan credits to gentle extractions. At times, the wines come across as quite Burgundian in the way they express richness but not excess heaviness. Over the last few years, the wines have become a little more laid-back and less overtly ripe, which is a net positive given that the starting point for all of these wines is fruit of exceptional quality. The Petite Syrahs in particular are noteworthy because they are among the few wines that find the elegance Petite Syrah is capable of, while avoiding the massive tannins that are so typical elsewhere. The 2010s are strong across the board, although Turley did not bottle a few of their wines from sites that got scorched by the heat spikes, which includes the Highway 101 and Zampatti. The 2011s are more variable, as befits a vintage that had much less favorable conditions overall. Tel. (707) 963-0940