Jim Gateley

Review of Turnbull Wine Cellars

I rate Turnbull Wine Cellars 4 of 5 stars. I had o...

I rate Turnbull Wine Cellars 4 of 5 stars. I had often driven past Turnbull Wine Cellars on Hwy 29 and yes, I did see their sign, building and road-side pickup truck. But what put them on my radar was a trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train where I had a chance to really notice Turnbull and put them onto my list to visit.

Turnbull is a very attractive winery where the interesting parts of the builds are hidden away from the Hwy. My first learning is that the building closest to the parking lot is the reserve tasting room and art gallery. In the middle between the reserve room and the tasting room is a small garden, a fountain and a beautifully restored Pick-up truck. Behind the main tasting room is an attractive patio, lawn and access to rows of grape vines. On two recent trips, I have tasted in both tasting rooms and found the staff to be knowledgeable and extremely friendly (helpful).

If you are a lover of Malbec, have I got a winery for you! Careful tasting of their wines I noticed most have a unique taste compared to other Napa Valley product. In this case, "unique" means good or bad depending on how you like Petite Verdot and Malbec. Turnbull makes use of these two grapes in blending many of their wines. So at first taste of a Cab, you notice it doesn't taste like others; yep, it is the blending. I found their blends uniquely good offering a different flavor of the main grapes. Yes, I have purchased several of their wines: 2007 Cab Franc, 2007 Merlot Estate Grown Oakville, 2008 CS Fortuna, 2008 Merlot Fortuna and a 2008 PS.