Listening to the Vineyards, Brian Talley Makes Wines from the Heart at Talley Vineyards
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Brian Talley walks Rosemary’s Vineyard in the Arroyo Grande AVA. LISTENING TO THE VINEYARDS, BRIAN TALLEY MAKES WINES FROM THE HEART AT TALLEY VINEYARDS 118 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 Somm Journal Oct/Nov_100-132.indd 118 9/27/16 6:59 PM Brian Talley at the winery: “I like the collaborative aspects of what we do here.” by Bennett George / photos by Jeremy Ball Standing at the top of Talley Vineyards’ Rincon Vineyard in Arroyo Grande, California, Brian Talley can see his family’s winery below, set amid fields growing produce for the Talley Farms operation. In 1982, Brian’s father, Don Talley, had the foresight to plant vines in this cool- climate region, and over the years the younger Talley has expanded upon that vision and made the brand one of the most important and influential wine pro- ducers on California’s Central Coast. “My father figured that he might as well plant grapes on the hills surrounding our produce fields,” says Brian, a third-generation farmer. “The steep slopes surrounding the croplands weren’t much suited for anything other than grapes. Avocado trees had been Growing and Evolving planted on the hillsides, but they proved too susceptible to frost. Brian joined the family business in 1991, the year when a new winery After seeing farmers in Santa Maria and Edna Valley planting vine- was built on the property. He’s always worked closely with his wine- yards, he had a strong suspicion that Arroyo Grande would also be makers and vineyard managers, continuously refining their approach. a good place to grow grapes.” “My personal mission is to take what I was given as a special oppor- His farmer’s intuition turned out to be correct, particularly about tunity to serve as a steward of our vineyards, winery and farming the area’s ability to produce distinctive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. operation,” he says. “I want to make it better and pass it along to the As reviewer Jeb Dunnuck in The Wine Advocate put it: “Across the next generation in better condition. I like the collaborative aspects of board, the Talley wines have fabulous typicity, purity and class, and what we do here. The people I’m blessed to work with are all people are some of the greatest expressions of the varieties coming out who want to grow and evolve. The more they take responsibility and of California today.” ownership of a situation, the better the results.” Talley’s steep estate vineyards are spread out over the gently This method has worked well. Steve Rasmussen, Talley’s first rolling foothills leading up to the southern end of the Santa Lucia winemaker, was with the winery for 18 years and helped establish Range, above the Arroyo Grande Valley. The valley runs east to the focus on quality and site specificity still in place today. The cur- west, channeling cool air from the ocean during the day and mod- rent Winemaker, Eric Johnson, came to Talley in 2007 to work in erating the temperatures overnight. The climate was ideal for pro- the tasting room. He grew up on a farm in California’s San Joaquin duce—Brian’s grandfather, Oliver Talley, began farming in the area Valley and attended California State Polytechnic University in San in 1948—but in 1982, it was a gamble to plant acres of grapevines. Luis Obispo, where he studied ag business. With a Bachelor’s degree Before Don followed his hunch, he talked with viticulturalists at and an emphasis in wine and viticulture, he soon moved from the U.C. Davis about the optimal Pinot Noir clone for the site, eventu- tasting room to a position as enologist and was named Winemaker LISTENING TO THE VINEYARDS, BRIAN TALLEY MAKES ally settling on the Wädenswil 2A clone, which had been brought in 2010. He works closely with Brian to shape the style of the wines. over from Switzerland in 1952. It offered the characteristics the site needed: good flavor, disease resistance and the ability to thrive Driven by the Vineyards WINES FROM THE HEART AT TALLEY VINEYARDS in a cool climate. Today, Talley is best known for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays “Over the years we’ve changed the mix a little, adding Dijon and made from estate-grown fruit, releasing 15,000 cases each year. some California heirloom clones as we replant or add new rows,” The grapes in the Talley Estate Chardonnay and Talley Estate Pinot Brian says. “This creates more diversity in the vineyards, giving us Noir come almost entirely from the hillside Rincon and Rosemary’s more options to work with in the winery.” vineyards. Within those vineyards, select blocks are used to make { SOMMjournal.com } 119 Somm Journal Oct/Nov_100-132.indd 119 9/27/16 6:59 PM The Vineyards of Talley Vineyards Since the initial planting of the Rincon Vineyard, Talley has grown to include six vineyards in the Arroyo Grande and Edna Valley AVAs: Rosemary’s Vineyard Located about a mile south of the winery in the Arroyo Grande AVA, this hilltop vineyard is named for Rosemary Talley, Brian’s mother, and surrounds her residence. Planted in 1987, the 29-acre site is divided into 12 acres of Winemaker Eric Johnson (left) and Chardonnay and 17 acres of Pinot Noir. Brian Talley examine an incoming lot Steep and well-drained, the vineyard of Pinot Noir during harvest. has a soil structure of shale and loam, with a bit of clay in the subsoil. With its ocean influence, Rosemary’s Vineyard is the coolest of the Talley sites. the Talley’s top-tier wines, the single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that garner the most attention from critics and collectors. “The choice as to which blocks are used for single-vineyard wines and which are used for the Estate releases is based solely on the vineyard,” Brian says. “We vinify every block separately, so over the years we’ve been able to identify the best blocks, and those are the ones we use. It’s not barrel selection, it’s not a ‘reserve’ wine; it’s driven by the vineyard. For example, the section of Rosemary’s planted in 1987 by my Dad, it’s just proven itself to be consistently the best, the backbone of the vineyard, so that’s what we use for our Rosemary’s release.” In 1999, Talley added a companion label to the operation, and began making Bishop’s Peak wines using grapes sourced solely from San Luis Obispo County. Bishop’s Peak, which now accounts for another 16,000 cases, allows Talley’s team to work with Bordeaux varieties. The flagship wine, Elevation, is a Bordeaux blend sourced from the Margarita Vineyard in Paso Robles. Over the years, Brian and his wife, Johnine, have maintained strong ties to the community. In 2004, they founded the Fund for Vineyard and Farmworkers, which supports programs for the region’s farmworkers and their families including a youth literacy program called Raising a Reader, a medical clinic in San Luis Obispo and a junior high and high school program that aims to create first-generation college students. The fund’s endowment is currently $600,000—a sum that was partly generated by the Talleys’ donating the profits from a special wine they make each year called Mano Tinta (“red hand”). For Brian Talley, all of these pursuits are as close to home as running the farm his grandfather first planted. “It comes down to sitting in my kitchen with Johnine and our daughters at the end of the day, enjoying a glass of wine from our vineyard and enjoying produce from our farm,” he says. “We’re just really lucky to be living in a place that’s this beautiful, where the product we make is so special and enjoyed by so many people.” www.talleyvineyards.com 120 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 Somm Journal Oct/Nov_100-132.indd 120 9/27/16 6:59 PM Rincon Vineyard Stone Corral Talley’s original vineyard comprises 91 Planted in the Edna Valley AVA in 2001, acres on two steep south-sloping hillsides this 27-acre Pinot Noir vineyard is a few adjacent to the winery. Planted with 49 miles from the Talley winery. The diverse acres of Chardonnay and 38 acres of Pinot clonal selection emphasizes the Dijon Noir, the vineyard’s oldest vines are own- clones 115, 667 and 777, with a massale rooted, reducing their yields significantly selection of cuttings from Rosemary’s but adding great complexity and concen- Vineyard. Stone Corral is divided into five tration. The shallow soil is composed of blocks, with each divided into thirds and loam and calcareous clay. As the old vines shared equally by Talley Vineyards, Stephen give out, they’re being replaced with Dijon Ross Wines and Kynsi Winery. Each pro- clones and California heirlooms to supple- ducer gets fruit from the same block year ment the original Wädenswil selections. after year, offering a unique opportunity to taste three separate winemakers’ Monte Sereno Vineyard approaches to the site’s specific attributes, Planted in 2006, these three acres of combined with the vintage variations. Chardonnay produce wine with a slightly softer approach on the palate than Talley’s Oliver’s Vineyard other vineyards. It is bottled as part of the Named after the founder Oliver Talley, Estate Chardonnay, as well as the limited Brian’s grandfather, this 36-acre vineyard in single-vineyard bottling sold only in the the Edna Valley was planted to Chardonnay tasting room. in 1991. In 2006, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling were added to the mix.