2005 Turley Alban Vineyard Roussanne LPR, 375ml

Turley Wine Cellars has wineries in St. Helena, in the Napa Valley, and in Templeton, in the Paso Robles area of California’s Central Coast. Founded in 1993 by Larry Turley, Turley Wine Cellars is known for robust and well-rated Zinfandels. Turley is the brother of Helen Turley, one of California’s most legendary winemakers, and she consulted for him until the mid-1990s. Now the winemaker is Tegan Passalacqua, who worked under legendary Ehren Jordan before Jordan left for other pursuits. Turley has a talent for finding young winemakers on the verge of fame. He also gave Thomas Rivers Brown his first job. Larry Turley co-founded Frog’s Leap Winery in 1981 but sold his interest in Frog’s Leap to start his own estate. Robert M. Parker Jr. has called Larry Turley “the world’s premier Zinfandel specialist…he built Turley Wine Cellars into a showcase for the fruit, power and intensity of Zinfandel.” There are generally waits of several years to get on the mailing list to acquire Turley Zinfandels.

Edna Valley AVA is within San Luis Obispo County, and within the large Central Coast AVA. Edna Valley became an AVA in 1982 and it includes 22,400 acres of extremely fertile land blessed with a long growing season. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the principal grapes, though Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Albarino, Grenache, Viognier, Merlot and Petite Sirah also are grown. Spanish missionaries were growing grape vines in the Edna Valley in the 18th century, but the valley’s modern wine industry took off in the 1970s. Today there are more than 50 Edna Valley wineries.