In 2000, Larry Turley walked into a quiet Paso Robles winery that had been bonded in 1934 and found something most growers had stopped looking for: gnarled, head-trained Zinfandel vines planted in the 1920s, still bearing fruit on limestone. He bought the historic Pesenti Winery on the spot. A former emergency-room doctor who had already co-founded Frog’s Leap and built Turley Wine Cellars in Napa in 1993, Larry understood exactly what these old vines were worth, and he set about protecting them.

Larry Turley, Tegan Passalacqua, and a century of vines

Larry Turley came to wine from the emergency room. A physician by training, he co-founded Frog’s Leap in Napa Valley before striking out on his own and establishing Turley Wine Cellars in 1993. From the start his obsession was old vines, the ancient, head-trained, often ungrafted plantings that earlier generations had nearly abandoned. Turley built a reputation on finding these survivors across California and turning them into some of the country’s most celebrated Zinfandel and Petite Syrah.

That hunt brought him to Paso Robles in 2000, when he purchased the historic Pesenti Winery, bonded in 1934 just after the repeal of Prohibition, with Zinfandel vines planted between roughly 1922 and 1924. Today the winemaking is led by Tegan Passalacqua, whose direction guides a portfolio of around fifty wines from more than fifty vineyards across the state, many with vines dating to the late 1800s. In Paso, Turley draws on a roster of historic sites including the Ueberroth, Dusi, and Pesenti vineyards, treating each as its own expression rather than blending them into anonymity.

Vines planted in the 1920s, still bearing on limestone. He bought it on the spot.

Willow Creek limestone and a coastline you can smell

Turley’s Paso vineyards sit in the Willow Creek District, the limestone heart of the west side, and the soils do the heavy lifting. Calcareous limestone is the common thread, high in pH, hard-draining, and demanding, which produces grapes with bright natural acidity even at full ripeness. The Pesenti Vineyard lies only about eight miles from the coast and lives in a Mediterranean rhythm of warm days and cold nights, the classic Paso pattern driven by the Templeton Gap pulling marine air inland and creating a wide day-to-night temperature swing.

The Ueberroth Vineyard is the crown jewel of age. Planted in 1885, it is the oldest of Turley’s Zinfandel sites, with ungrafted, head-trained vines on very steep limestone slopes. It sits closer to the sea than any other vineyard they work, so close that you can smell the salt air from the top of the hill. That high-pH limestone makes for a very high-acid wine, which is the secret to Turley’s Paso style: powerful, ripe fruit held in tension by acidity and minerality rather than weighed down by sheer alcohol.

The wines: old-vine Zinfandel and Petite Syrah

Zinfandel is the heart of Turley, and the single-vineyard bottlings show how dramatically one grape changes with the ground beneath it. The Ueberroth Zinfandel, from those 1885 vines on steep limestone near the coast, shows sweet red fruits, spice and pepper, violets, chalk, and white stones, with wild strawberries on the palate and a vibrant, finessed energy that comes straight from the high-acid soil. The Pesenti Zinfandel, with occasional Carignane interplanted among the old vines, takes on a distinctive brightness and a sweet-tart character that sets it apart.

Petite Syrah is the other great Turley grape here. The Pesenti Petite Syrah is dark, smooth, dense, and classic, and as the vines age the wine grows more expressive, layering minerality, savory spice, and high-toned pepper over its powerful core. The Paso lineup runs beyond these two as well, including Tecolote, a Grenache and Carignane blend, and Grenache Blanc from the Pesenti site. What unites them all is the old-vine signature: concentration without clumsiness, the gift of low-yielding ancient vines grown on limestone.

What to pour Turley with

Turley’s old-vine reds are big, ripe, and structured, which makes the pairing chemistry forgiving and fun. Zinfandel and Petite Syrah both carry firm tannin, and tannin binds to protein and fat, so it softens against rich, fatty food while the food smooths the wine. That points straight at the Paso classic, red-oak-grilled tri-tip, along with barbecue, smoked brisket, lamb, and burgers. The smoky char on grilled and barbecued meat is a natural echo of the peppery, savory notes in old-vine Zin and Petite Syrah.

Watch the sweet-ripe fruit and any sweet-edged sauce together, since matching sweetness matters: a barbecue sauce with some sweetness will sit comfortably beside Zinfandel’s ripe fruit rather than fighting it. Keep chili in check, because heat amplifies the perception of alcohol, and these are generous, full-bodied wines. The bright, high-acid Pesenti and Ueberroth styles also have the acidity to cut through fat, so they refresh the palate between rich bites. To match a specific Turley bottle to a specific dish, the wine pairing generator makes it easy.

Visiting Turley Wine Cellars

Turley’s Paso tasting room sits in the original Pesenti Winery on Vineyard Drive in the Willow Creek District, a building bonded in 1934 and surrounded by Zinfandel vines from the 1920s, so a visit is a walk through living history as much as a tasting. Pouring through the single-vineyard Zinfandels side by side is the best way to taste what limestone, vine age, and proximity to the coast actually do to one grape. Because this is a beloved stop on the west side, booking ahead is wise, and it leaves time to appreciate the historic setting rather than rushing. Turley anchors a stretch of the Willow Creek District thick with renowned producers, so it pairs naturally with a fuller day of west-side tasting. For the bigger picture of the region, see the Paso Robles guide.

Turley Wine Cellars: common questions