Kathy’s research over the last few months had turned up a few locally sourced wines from Zin-meister Turley Wine Cellars out of St. Helena in the Napa Valley. In wine circles, the Turley name is akin to raisin royalty: Helen Turley is the winemaker behind such pricey cult classics such as Marcassin, Colgin and Bryant Family among other clients, past and present. Turley Wine Cellars is the label of her younger bro, Larry, who specializes in Zinfandel.

Kath had located a few Turley Zins made from grapes from vineyards in our ‘hood, and, naturally, bearing vineyard names which were mysteries to us. (True to the Turley Mystique, prices for these wines were all over the map; a wine that Kathy obtained for $40 was listed at one wine shop in Los Angeles for $125)

On a whim, Kath telephoned Turley’s tasting room, and, after explaining the purpose of our blog, was connected to Jon Grant, sales guru for Turley Wine Cellars.

Jon was a trove of information about the Duarte and Salvador vineyards in our city of Oakley (which just celebrated its 11th birthday on Canada Day), the names of which appear respectively on the Turley Zins Kathy obtained. Jon was even more passionate about just what the sun, soil and vine age of the Oakley locale bring to the Turley winemaking party.

That New Delhi Sandy Loam soil that these century-old gnarly vines drill through in search of water? It’s decomposed granite, which Turley prizes for the minerality that frequently manifests itself during fermentation — literally: The wind off the delta whips the sand into the tightly packed grape clusters, resulting in big piles of sand at the bottom of the fermentation tanks after racking!

Early on, Helen Turley lent a winemaking hand to Larry, and stressed a light hand on the usual Zin powerhouse. Bro has stepped up to the proverbial plate: The 2006 Turley Zinfandel, from Co Co’s Duarte Vineyard is an expression of elegant power, despite 15.8% alcohol. From a nose of smoke, brown sugar, glycerin and chutney spices, through to a perfect balance of weight, softness, acidity and tannin, here’s a Zin that’s more luxurious than a lot of Pinots out there.