2013 Turley Zinfandel Judge Bell

The 2013 Zinfandel Judge Bell Vineyard is a wine of impact and pure power. Dark, intense and voluptuous, the 2013 packs a serious punch. Sweet dark cherry, plum, spice, menthol and new leather build to the huge, powerful finish. The Judge Bell is not especially subtle, but it sure has plenty of class and personality.

The 2013 Zinfandel Judge Bell comes from a block of vines planted in 1907 known as Picnic Hill Block in the Story Vineyard. These are classic head-pruned, dry-farmed, ungrafted vines planted eight years before the beginning of World War I. One of the best Amador Zinfandels I’ve ever tasted, this wine displays plenty of briary raspberry, black and red cherry as well as boysenberry fruit, good underlying structure, some earth, pepper, meat and spice. It is full-bodied, rich, heady, and somehow manages to brilliantly conceal a whopping 16.2% natural alcohol. Of course, a wine like this would be excoriated by the “in pursuit of balance” crowd, but this is what balance is all about – what looks to be a mind-numbing amount of alcohol is incredibly well-concealed. This wine should drink well for 8-10 years.

Once again, the 2013 Zinfandel Judge Bell Vineyard is the most textured and ample of Turley's Amador County Zinfandels. Dark red cherries, plums, menthol, licorice, smoke and cedar meld together in a sumptuous Zinfandel that really shines in this vintage. This site was planted in 1907.