2011 Turley Zinfandel Paso Robles

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 90 points

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  9/24/2016 - tcosgriff Likes this wine: 87 Points

  Purple color with plum and bramble notes, very typical of this grape. Not as alluring as Turley named vineyards, but still pleasant, and another testament to the drinkability of California wines, even when made from less selected grapes. I do find it hard to find much in the way of "place" in Turley wines. You may say that I have a challenged terroir palate, but I think that terroir has been overdone, like so many other things, by the wine press. Obviously, you cannot grow great wine in some soils and some places (North Dakota comes to mind), but viticulture and winemaking are the key, once you accept that there are better places and conditions for different wine grapes. I remember drinking bottles of Pesenti Zinfandel before Turley acquired this winery. The wine was awful. Turley transformed the wine in short order, with the same vines, and the same place. I hope that I haven't stirred up a hornets nest, as terroir is a sacred concept to many, but to be sensibly iconoclastic is a good thing. So here is to place, but not too much place, and here is to brilliant winemaking, with never enough.

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