Turley Wine Cellars

The first stop on our best Paso trip ever was Turley Wine Cellars, at least for four of us [Vic, Bob, Karen and me] while the rest of our group went off to San Marcos Vineyard.

Turley has always been a very special winery to me. Being a long time fan of Zinfandel, I can certainly appreciate the fact the Turley “brings it” when it comes to powerhouse Zin. But at the same time, Turley wines have a certain finesse that is not found in many Zinfandels.  And for those people who think that Turley wines are extremely expensive, I would beg to differ. True, they are more expensive than most Zinfandels. But, with prices ranging from the mid $20s to the mid $70s, with most in the upper $30s to low $40s, there are plenty of wines produced by other wineries of the Turley caliber [or below] that are much more expensive. Some retailers and restaurants add on extremely high markups to Turley wines, which possibly acts as a deterrent to purchasers. Oh, well, more for me.

I’m pretty sure I signed up for Turley before they acquired the Pesenti property in Paso Robles in 2000. They did an amazing job renovating the visitors’ area, with a new tasting room and patio. As usual, there was plenty to eat, including pizza from their new pizza oven. There was also an acoustic guitarist, and of course, lots of wine.

Being poured at the party:

In the cellar – 2009 Grenache.

On the veranda – 2007 Pesenti Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel

In the tasting room – 2007 Dusi Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel and 2006 Ueberroth Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel.

And in the library – 2005 Pesenti Vineyard Paso Robles Petite Syrah and 2005 Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley Petite Syrah.

To Be Continued…

Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.  “It is common practice for wine industry workers, wine writers and winery club members [and members of their party] to receive complimentary tastings and discounted purchases. Unless it is otherwise noted, it should be presumed that this is the case.”