2012 Pokerville Produced by Turley Wine Cellars Zinfandel Amador County 750 ml

A Zinfandel Land Grab in Pokerville — Larry Turley’s Bold Acquisition in Amador County

Larry Turley had always been good at lots of things, but sitting still was never one of them. An emergency physician for 24 years, Turley has always loved to solve difficult problems, trusting both science and instinct. That combination propelled him to co-found Frog’s Leap Winery in Rutherford in 1981, and then, 11 years later, to sell his stake to his partner, John Williams, and chart a new winemaking path on his own.

While Joel Peterson’s Ravenswood juggernaut was piping-hot, and as Paul Draper continued to conjure up spectacularly age-worthy Zinfandels at Ridge Vineyards, Turley recognized that his Zinfandel was losing steam in Napa Valley, trumped by the more lucrative ROI of Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of the pre-Prohibition Napa Valley Zin was being ripped out, or even worse, abandoned.

In 1993, Turley founded Turley Wine Cellars, focused entirely on big, bold, darkly flavored Napa Valley Zinfandel and Petite Syrah. Turley’s first releases included small, single-vineyard cuvées drawn off of Hayne Vineyard, planted in 1903, and Moore “Earthquake” Vineyard, which lies northeast of the city of Napa and dates from 1906.

Then, like a riverboat gambler with a joker up his sleeve, Larry Turley turned over a wild card. His sister, Helen Turley, is one of the valley’s most brilliant consultants, leaving her indelible winemaking mark on the wines of Colgin, Pahlmeyer, Bryant Family, Martinelli, and her own Marcassin. When she agreed to lend a helping hand, Turley Wine Cellars was off to the races.

At Ridge Vineyards, Draper’s approach to choosing vineyards and his cellar protocol gave birth to refined Zinfandels of claret-like structure and elegance. Further north in Sonoma, Peterson’s Ravenswood Zins were darker and somewhat spicier.

The Turleys had a different take altogether. Leaving no room for ambivalence, they went for the gusto. For those of you with cellars full of Turley Zinfandels drawn off Hayne, Pesenti, and Sadie Upton vineyards or Pesenti, you know that these aren’t wines for those seeking out dried-fruit tension and angularity in their Zinfandel collections.

Larry Turley is always pressing the pedal to the floor, pushing the envelope on late-harvest ripeness, and these are some of the biggest, boldest, most massively concentrated, full-throttle reds on the coast. They are why Larry has earned a cult following of thousands of Zinfandel zealots — all of whom took careful note when Turley surprised many by purchasing 70 acres from Buck Cobb, a former fighter pilot, in the rugged foothills of Amador County.

Since the 1970s, the historic Gold Rush territory of Amador County has been assuming a more prominent place in the Zinfandel wine scene, with jet-black, darkly concentrated, spicy Zins from the likes of Cary Gott’s Montevina, and later, Bill Easton’s Terre Rouge. Now, with his first release of the “Pokerville” Zinfandel — named after a historic Amador County gold-mining camp — from the spectacular 2012 vintage, Larry Turley is poised for a new adventure as he strides into his seventh decade.

The 2012 Turley Wine Cellars “Pokerville” Zinfandel is deep purple in hue. Big, bold, and juicy, infused with mouthwatering aromas of black raspberry bramble, licorice, and sweet spice. The core is rich, intensely concentrated, yet still with the light-hearted spice that so distinguishes Amador County Zinfandel. Finishes with plenty of vibrancy and tension, keeping all the Turley “full-throttle” concentration in perfect check. Serve at 58 degrees by the BBQ all summer long — or a few degrees warmer by the winter fire.