Winemaker Notes
Planted in 1944, the Dogtown Vineyard is farmed by Turley Wine Cellars. This headtrained, own-rooted vineyard is within the Clements Hills AVA, which has more topography than the rest of Lodi; thus, while most vineyards in the region were furrow irrigated, the rolling hills of iron-rich clay and volcanic soil in Dogtown have been dryfarmed from the start. The vineyard has some of the most consistently low yields and best natural acidity of any other they’ve farmed.
They’ve worked with this vineyard 21 years now, making it one of the longest-running wines in Turley’s farming history. The wine has an intricate nose of dusty herbs, exotic spices, and red jeweled fruits, along with a touch of Palo Santo. The palate is rife with bright red fruits, vibrant acidity, and distinctively suave tannins. This 2016 Dogtown has an elegant structure and texture reminiscent of our favorite wines from sandy soils like Salvador and Duarte. A true Turley classic.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a site located on the outskirts of Lodi in the beginning of the foothills on volcanic and clay soils, the 2016 Zinfandel Dogtown Vineyard exhibits a complex nose of dried herbs, sage, cherries and raspberries. This dry-farmed vineyard planted in 1944 is the lowest yielding in Turley's portfolio, and the tiny clusters it produces show in the wine's dense, layered, richly tannic profile. It's one of the best candidates for sustained bottle age in the range this year.
Rating: 94+
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.
Positioned between the San Francisco Bay and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the Lodi appellation, while relatively far inland, is able to maintain a classic Mediterranean climate featuring warm, sunny days and cool evenings. This is because the appellation is uniquely situated at the end of the Sacramento River Delta, which brings chilly, afternoon “delta breezes” to the area during the growing season.
Lodi is a premier source of 100+ year old ancient Zinfandel vineyards—some dating back as far as 1888! With low yields of small berries, these heritage vines produce complex and bold wines, concentrated in rich and voluptuous, dark fruit.
But Lodi doesn’t just produce Zinfandel; in fact, the appellation produces high quality wines from over 100 different grape varieties. Among them are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc as well as some of California's more rare and unique grapes. Lodi is recognized as an ideal spot for growing Spanish varieties like Albarino and Tempranillo, Portugese varieties—namely Touriga Nacional—as well as many German, Italian and French varieties.
Soil types vary widely among Lodi’s seven sub-appellations (Cosumnes River, Alta Mesa, Deer Creek Hills, Borden Ranch, Jahant, Clements Hills and Mokelumne River). The eastern hills are clay-based and rocky and in the west, along the Mokelumne and Cosumnes Rivers, sandy and mineral-heavy soils support the majority of Lodi’s century-old own-rooted Zinfandel vineyards. Unique to Lodi are pink Rocklin-Jahant loam soils, mainly found in the Jahant sub-appellation.