050: Tegan Passalacqua - Turley and Sandlands

"California terrior through the lens of Zinfandel."  As a winemaker sourcing Zinfandel vineyards, from 12 counties throughout California Tegan Passalacqua has an unrivaled view of this grape's potential in his role at Turley Wine Cellars.  Tegan and his wife also have their own small brand, Sandlands Wines, which is often known for its Chenin blanc, but is also producing lesser-known varieties such as Trousseau noir.  In this episode of The Inside Winemaking Podcast Tegan and I discuss:

• Why Zinfandel is particularly well-suited to California throughout its winemaking history before refrigeration
• The unique resilience that Zinfandel vines have in tolerating virus and disease
• How eustress is healthy, but the recent drought years brought too much stress
• Why Tegan views the tracking of acidity to be particularly important in producing Zin
• Tegan's fascination with 
• Why the 2012 vintage was like a rebound relationship
• How to guide a notoriously difficult Zinfandel fermentation into finishing
• Why Tegan only likes Brettanomyces "in other people's wines"
• How natural winemaking is like being on the other side of a magic trick
• The idea of putting a tax on Round-Up
• The story behind him persuading a grower on the "true Sonoma coast" to plant Trousseau noir
• What it's like to grow grapes and make wine on a volcano

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Turley Wine Cellars, California
• Sandlands Wines, California
• Artist, Wayne Thiebaud, Man Reading
• Frank Cornelissen, Etna, Italy 
• Follow Tegan on Instagram @OwnRooted and Twitter @OwnRooted

Deep Winemaking 2017 is scheduled for August 10-12th in Napa.  Come spend three days immersed in technical visits with winemakers, viticulturists, barrel cooperages, and wine laboratories with other like-minded aspiring winemakers.  

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