Winery: Turon Wines
After reading about Turon White on the Vintner Project and his recognition in the young gun of wine awards, we knew we had to visit.
The Story:
Turon graduated from Adelaide University with a degree in Oenology. After college, he spent time in Hungary, where some of the characteristics behind his wine styles originated in working with "the Bull's Blood." From there, he went to Oregon, where he worked at Argyle and ROCO winery with Rollin Soles. During this experience, he also developed friendships with Cody Wright, who along with his wife run Purple Hands. It was working with these winemakers he developed a love and appreciation for Pinot Noir.
Turon knew he wanted to return to Adelaide Hill's cool-climate and work with the grape. He has worked in the Adelaide Hills now for over a decade; as the head winemaker at The Lane Vineyard and now has his own project Turon Wines. He started buying fruit in 2013 and built the winery in 2017.
Turon believes that Pinot Noir is a variety most heavily influenced by the choice of clones. Pinot is also the most site-dependent wine. What makes a wine excel is utilizing the knowledge of each vineyard block, and growing the most suitable clone to match that specific terroir. His winemaking style is one of minimal intervention. He focuses on making wines with natural freshness and crisp acidity.
The Wines:
The Artist Series and Limited Range.
There is a cool story behind the Artist Labels; they provided artist Kellie Em with the tasting notes of each wine. She, in turn, designed the artwork providing a visual metaphor representing the personality of each wine.
The Limited Range is a bottling of one stand-out parcel within a block, and only one barrel of each variety is made each year.
We would have loved to have brought more home, but they were already sold out. We did sample the Limited Range Syrah out of the barrel, which will spend 18 months in large format oak. I loved the blend of aromas; blackberry, blueberry, violet, and licorice. It was fresh, vibrant, and already silky.
Suitcase Wines:
The "Field Blend" White
The Hummingbird represents the 'cross-pollination.' This is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc (fermented on skins), Pinot Gris (whole-bunch), and a touch of Viognier, fermented in large format oak. Its highly aromatic, refreshing, flavors of citrus & peach, with pleasing acidity. This is a clean, bright wine but possessing complexity.
Pinot Noir - Lenswood single vineyard, single barrel
Wild ferment, 15 months in oak, unfiltered, and unfined. The nose jumps with strawberry and black cherries. A lighter style, with the berries flowing into the mouth combined with a bit of tart. This makes for a beautiful summertime sipper.
Final Note:
The Adelaide Hills was impacted by fire in December 2019. Luckily their winery was spared. More than 60 vineyards and wineries were affected in this region. Sadly, three growers they work with were impacted. However, Turon said he believes it will end up being a good year for them overall; fingers crossed.