2012 Turley Zinfandel Bedrock Vineyard

(includes "lots of other varieties," according to winemaker Tegan Passalacqua; this vineyard belongs to Joel and Morgan Peterson): Bright red-ruby. Black cherry and a rocky quality on the superripe nose. Creamy and deep but classically dry and serious, showing a minty nuance to its black cherry fruit. Major tannins rather than acidity give structure to this youthfully tight wine.

The terrific 2012 Zinfandel Bedrock Vineyard is a super-rich, heady wine that must have 15.5% to 16% alcohol, but it does not show any of that in its black cherry, black currant and blackberry fruit. It is peppery, spicy, full-bodied and opulent. Turley Wine Cellars has long been one of the more enviable wine operations in California. Larry Turley should, and does, receive enormous credit for nearly single-handedly preserving many of the heritage old vine Zinfandel sites that exist in northern California. Most of them were threatened with being torn up with what was believed to be more popular varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. This estate produces nearly thirty single vineyard Zinfandels and Petite Syrahs, all from organically farmed vineyards. Natural yeast fermentations have always been the rule, and the percentage of new oak used has dropped from a high of 30% to about half that. Their Zinfandels are never shy, but tasting through the 2012s, it appears they are not as extracted as they once were, but the alcohols remain in the 15% to 16% range because Zinfandel is rarely ripe at lower sugars. It appears that Larry Turley was destined to resuscitate these old vine vineyards as he worked for a quarter of a century as an emergency room doctor. He now works full time shaping wines from nearly three dozen old vine parcels. As he says, he’s never met an old vine vineyard he didn’t like. Turley’s long-time assistant winemaker, Ehren Jordan, has left to pursue his own project (Failla Wines), but Turley has the highly competent Tegan Passalacqua as his wingman. Virtually every one of these 2012 Zinfandels will be drinkable upon release in 2014, and should last for 6-8 years. Larry Turley was one of the first to exploit some of the old vine vineyards planted in sandy soils from the backwater areas of Lodi and Contra Costa. The two Contra Costa sites include the Duarte and Salvador, both ancient vineyards with the Salvador directly planted on its own roots in 1896. The Duarte was named after a prominent grower in Contra Costa. The Petite Syrahs are different animals altogether and most of them should keep for 30-40 years – at a minimum! Tel. (707) 963-0940

The 2012 Zinfandel Bedrock, yet another addition to the range, has a lovely immediacy to it. Juicy dark cherry, plum, anise, orange peel and floral notes are all supported by veins of acidity and tannin. Bedrock, which is owned by the Peterson family, is one of Sonoma's heritage sites. It will be interesting to see what Turley comes up with here over the coming years.