TN 2010 Turley Rattlesnake Ridge petite sirah

As everyone knows i love a big flavourful wine and im not afraid to cradle snatch.

This wine was disappointing though, basically its just a big overly sweet jammy hot mess. No real structure or backbone, the initial flavours are ok then it grts cloyingly jammy and far to rich.

Not sure if time mellows this but i cant see It developing the backbone to round out into an enjoyable big wine

Ive been looking forward to trying a big Turley sirah but it was a letdown

Thanks for sharing, Alan!

Isn’t this a Mountain-grown Petite Sirah? I would expect a very different tasting note, as I suppose you did, too.

2010 had the heat wave in the North Coast, I think, but I seriously doubt that it would be responsible for such a jammy end product…

Bummer man! I would have had much higher hopes for this one as well - been hearing good things about the rattlesnake PS.

I’ve had the Hayne vineyard PS across a handful of vintages and always really enjoyed them. I’d recommend giving one of those a shot before you completely give up on Turley PS…especially if you can find one with some age on it.

Sorry this one didn’t shine for you.

Im bummed as well, i was not necessarily expecting a fruit bomb being a mountain PS i thought it might be hard and unapproachable which i could live with as in terms of this particular wine its still a baby but the jammy Aussie shiraz like notes just totally threw me off. If it had been a hard severe wine i would be OK with knowing it just needs to hide for a long time.

Is this just a bad bottle or is this typical of Turley PS ?

I have one more 2009 to try from the Pesenti vineyad so ill be interested to see what the comparison is

Intersting…I have several of the Turley PSs from 11-12 (including Hayne, Rattlesnake, Pesenti, Library) but haven’t opened any. They get good notes but consensus is age age age. You’ve piqued my curiosity, Alan, so I will open one tonight (random selection or open to further suggestions) and report back on my experience.

Every Turley PS I have opened has been special. I do wait longer though. Still surprised you didnt get the enjoyment of these unique wines.

Just checked CellarTracker and looks like I have a single bottle of '05, '06 and '07. Any idea when to open and in what order?

Alan et al,

My promised note is below. I’ll add to that while this was my first Turley PS, the flavor profile was very familiar. So I went back through my old notes and found many of the same things mentioned in my notes on a 2012 Turley Cedarman Zinfandel which I opened in late 2014. A quick check of the Turley website indicates that Cedarman is a blend from the Dragon and Rattlesnake Ridge vineyards, with a healthy dollop of RR PS. The consistency is comforting. My note on the Cedarman was also positive so if this wine sounds interesting and you are holding a Cedarman it will get you most of the way there.

Cheers,

Joe

2012 Turley Petite Syrah Rattlesnake Ridge - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain (6/5/2016)
I’ve never been to Howell Mountain but damned if this wine didn’t take me right back to my childhood in the pine forests of North Georgia. The elusive perfume is of lilac, pine resin, and cayenne. The evolving taste is of dense chewy edges of blackberry cobbler, pine bark, a squeeze of lemon, and a bit of green twig. Broad tannins give a clean finish with a touch of saltiness. Color is deep ink. Shows a bit of heat on the nose and palate which is the only thing keeping this delicious, complex mountain wine a notch or two below great. Double decanted to remove a small amount of fine sediment and drank over 4 hours.

Posted from CellarTracker