Winemaker Notes
Planted in 1885, Ueberroth is the oldest of our Zinfandel vineyards. Located only a few miles from the Pacific, you can smell the salt air from the top of the hill. These ungrafted, head-trained vines are planted on very steep limestone slopes. The high pH of the soil makes for a very high-acid wine, elevating the ripe fruit flavors from this historic certified organic vineyard.
With an extra 40 years on these vines and some of the steepest slopes around, the Ueberroth is like the Pesenti Vineyard in a tux: more polish, sophistication, and power. Pretty purple and black fruits, with a deeply intriguing spice and minerality character on the nose. The palate is multi-layered, with immense focus on the fruit supplemented by an equally bracing acidity. Always refined, always delicious, never enough to go around! Ready to drink now and will age nicely thanks to the immense power &
structure inherent to this wine.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a chalky site in Paso Robles, 2016 Zinfandel Ueberroth Vineyard displays aromas of red cherries, plums and balsamic reduction, followed by a medium to full-bodied, juicy palate that's taut and tangy, with the second-lowest pH of any Zinfandel in the Turley portfolio, concluding with a pure, vibrant finish.
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Wine Spectator
Powerfully built and overflowing with personality, offering jammy blackberry, exotic fruitcake spices and flashy licorice flavors that build richness toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2025.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
As deeply fruited as it is unabashedly ripe and absolutely loaded with sweet berries framed in rich, slightly caramelly oak, Turley’s Ueberroth Zinfandel is a prototypical expression of its maker’s lavish, no-holds-barred ways with the grape. For all of its sheer swagger and size, it manages to capture a good deal of layered complexity and is an uncommonly well-structured effort for a wine of its ripeness and girth with enormous fruity extract effectively buffering its considerable alcohol. It is a bit of a showboat, but it is immensely tasty and demands drinking with the most flavorful foods in the varietal repertoire.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.