Turley Wine Cellars Zinfandel 'Juvenile' California 2021

Born in Tennessee and raised in Georgia, Larry Turley spent the majority of his life on a farm (tobacco and dairy), where his respect for the land and its cultivation developed at a young age. He worked for years as an emergency room physician, but ended up meeting John Williams, the soon-to-be winemaker at Spring Mountain, by fate, and the two opened Frog’s Leap Winery together in 1981. Eventually, Larry sold his half of the company to John in 1993 and started Turley Wine Cellars, specializing in making wines from old vineyard sites. (His sister Helen made wine here for the first couple of years, but moved on to her own venture, gaining just as stellar of a reputation as her brother.) Now over two decades later, TWC has developed a reputation for producing some of the greatest zinfandels and petite sirahs California has to offer. All of Turley's vineyards are either certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers or somewhere in the process, and only natural yeasts are used to spark fermentation. The ‘Juvenile’ zinfandel grapes come from younger vines that have been replanted in several of their old vine sites, with an age range of 6-25 years. Don’t let the name fool you; this zinfandel is still bold and full of complex character with spice and deep, dark fruit and streaks of earth and smoke. It has ripe, bold tannins that will mellow out throughout a meal, and a wonderfully long finish with a hint of chocolate. Sustainably grown.