Region: Napa Valley, California

Varietal: 100% Zinfandel

Tasting notes:  The nose begins with graphite, tar and aniseed and fleshes out to bright black and red berries with wafts of potpourri. The medium-bodied palate is surprisingly intense, offering up loads of berry and peachy fruits. It has a gently grainy and fresh frame, and it finishes long and floral. It’s a warm, rich wine where the fruit can be appreciated without the astringent tannins that some other wines (like Cabernet Sauvignon) often come with.

Producer:  After founding the Frog's Leap winery with business partner John Williams in 1981, then ER physician Larry Turley had taken a shining to the wines made from Zinfandel & Petite Syrah, growing particularly fond of those made from old vine vineyards. Eventually, he sold his half of Frog’s Leap to John and started Turley Wine Cellars in 1993.  Primarily focused on single vineyard designate Zinfandel and Petite Syrah and working with old vine vineyards, Larry aimed to both create and preserve California’s unique winemaking culture. Today,  all of Turley's vineyards are either Certified Organic by California Certified Organic Farmers or in the process of certification, and they use all natural yeasts during fermentation. Tegan Passalacqua was hired as Head Winemaker and Vineyard Manager in 2013 and now manages over two dozen vineyards throughout California.

Vineyard and Winemaking:  The Turley Estate Zinfandel truly is a backyard wine, as it grows in the backyard of the family home. The 6 acres of vines are certified organic, head-trained, dry-farmed and were planted back in 2006 on the alluvial rich soil, with scatterings of obsidian.  Native yeast fermentation. Aged using 80% used oak, 20% new.