Turley DuPratt Zinfandel 2016
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Robert
Parker
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Please welcome the incredible DuPratt Vineyard to the Turley family. Planted in 1920 at 1500 feet up on Mendocino Ridge, this vineyard is surrounded by giant Redwoods and is often called the “vineyard in the sky.” Indeed, the site is so remote that the vines still survive on their own original rootstocks, as Phylloxera has never made its way up there. Located above the town of Philo and only 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, it is the coolest site from which we’ve ever made wine. Though we’ve worked with Mendocino fruit for many years, DuPratt is the 1st Mendocino County bottling from Turley.
A real stunner of a wine, we are thrilled to have bottled our first DuPratt. The combination of old vines, high elevation, and extreme isolation and acidity makes it truly unique; imagine a cross of the Ueberroth and Howell Mountain wines, and you’d start to have an idea of what DuPratt tastes like. Profound aromatics of dark berries, mountain garrigue, and high-toned white spices flood the nose. These notes carry through to the palate, which is most noticeable for its invigorating acidity, an excellent foil to the depth and powerful tannins. Give it as much time as you can stand in the bottle, as this wine will only improve with age; either way
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A new bottling for Turley, the 2016 Zinfandel Dupratt Vineyard derives from ungrafted vines planted in 1920 in a Mendocino County redwood grove. Offering up aromas of creamy raspberries, cherries and coniferous forest floor, the wine is full-bodied, supple and velvety, with tangy acids, fine-grained but youthfully firm tannins and a long, subtly oak-inflected finish. At pH 3.22 (and fully 15.7% alcohol), this is the lowest pH Zinfandel Turley has ever bottled, and it's clearly both a singular and an extreme site.
Other Vintages
2019-
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
Turley Wine Cellars was founded in 1993 by Larry Turley and makes forty-seven wines, the vast majority of which are single vineyard designate Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs. By focusing on old vine vineyards in particular, Turley aims to both create and preserve California’s unique winemaking culture.
All of Turley’s vineyards are either certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers or somewhere in the process, and the winery uses all natural yeasts in the fermentations.
Turley aims to be stewards of some of California’s most distinctive vineyards, producing authentic wines that reflect their heritage.
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.
A large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.