History, Vineyards, Farming, Winemaking

History | Vineyards | Farming | Winemaking

Talley Vineyards & Bishop's Peak Wines
Our goal is to create distinctive, handcrafted wines that reflect the unique character of each vineyard where our grapes are grown.

Talley Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery that specializes in estate grown chardonnay and pinot noir ideally suited for the climate and soils of the Arroyo Grande and Edna Valleys.  The Talley’s farming history in the area dates to 1948 when Oliver Talley began growing vegetables in the Arroyo Grande Valley.  Guided by this legacy and a commitment to long term sustainability, Talley Vineyards focuses on attention to detail in all aspects of farming and winemaking operations. The goal is to produce distinctive wines of consistently high quality that best express the unique character of each of the Talley family’s six vineyard sites in the two valleys.

Bishop's Peak wines encompass vineyards throughout the Central Coast region, handcrafted from fruit grown in Santa Barbara County, Edna Valley, Paso Robles, and Monterey County. These wines are appellation-specific and in some cases vineyard-designated, setting them apart in focus and quality from many wines in this value-priced category. Bishop's Peak, the largest landmark in San Luis Obispo County and part of the Seven Sisters chain of volcanic mountain peaks, was chosen for the label of this regional brand of wines.

For three generations the Talley family has farmed in the Arroyo Grande Valley, located just south of San Luis Obispo in the heart of California’s South Central Coast wine region. Beginning with our first plantings in 1982 and continuing today, complete control over all phases of winegrowing is the guiding principle: from the planting of vines ideally suited to each vineyard site, to viticulture and winemaking that emphasize long term sustainability, low yields and minimal processing, to the gentle bottling of the finished wine. All wines produced under the Talley Vineyards label are grown, produced and bottled by the Talley family.

Location 
Talley Vineyards is located in the Arroyo Grande Valley, on California's South Central Coast, eight miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The Arroyo Grande Valley is in southern San Luis Obispo County just south of the Edna Valley and north of Santa Barbara County. It is a federally approved American Viticultural Area in recognition of the valley's distinctive climate and soil characteristics. The Arroyo Grande Valley runs northeast-southwest and opens directly to the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the coolest and most temperate viticultural areas in California. These ideal conditions result in a long and mild growing season, with bud break typically occurring in mid-February, flowering in early May and harvest in late September.

Family History 
The Talley family farming tradition began in 1948, when Oliver Talley started growing specialty vegetables in the Arroyo Grande Valley. Today, second and third generation family members maintain Talley Farms' international reputation for premium quality fruits and vegetables, including bell peppers, cilantro, zucchini, spinach, nappa cabbage, lemons and avocados.

Oliver's son, Don Talley, watched with great interest the emergence of viticulture in the neighboring Edna Valley and Santa Barbara County areas. After extensive analysis in the late 1970's, Don was convinced of the potential for growing high quality wine grapes, particularly Chardonnay and Pinot noir, on the steep hillsides above the vegetable farmland that comprises Talley Farms. A small test plot was planted in 1982, and included five varietals. Working with viticultural experts from the University of California at Davis and the Napa Valley, the varietal and clonal selections were refined and planting expanded over the years to a total of 190 acres in the Edna and Arroyo Grande Valleys.

Talley Vineyards produced its first wine in 1986 with the production of 450 cases. The winery's first five vintages were produced in a small winery adjacent to one of Talley Farms' vegetable coolers. In the fall of 1991, a state-of-the-art winery was completed at the foot of the Rincon Vineyard. This 8,500 square foot facility was designed with one goal in mind: to maximize the influence of the vineyard through minimal processing of the grapes into wine. Unique winery features include a total gravity system for crushing, so that grapes are handled as gently as possible, and an extensive cooling and humidity system to maintain ideal conditions during barrel fermentation and aging. A 12,000 square foot barrel and case goods storage building was added in 2000, followed by a new tasting room in 2002. Talley Vineyards currently produces about 18,000 cases annually.

The Talley family owns five unique vineyards comprising 190 acres in Southern San Luis Obispo County. The Rincon Vineyard, Rosemary's Vineyard and the Monte Sereno Vineyard are located in the Arroyo Grande Valley. Oliver's Vineyard and the Stone Corral Vineyard are located in the neighboring Edna Valley. The Talley family also owns the 40-acre Hazel Talley Vineyard in the Templeton Gap area of Paso Robles. Cabernet franc thrives at this site, which also includes syrah, cabernet sauvignon, viognier, Grenache and petite sirah.

Vineyards in the Arroyo Grande Valley
Rincon Vineyard
The Rincon Vineyard is located eight miles northeast of the Pacific Ocean and is the oldest of the vineyards with the first plantings dating to 1982. It is named for the historic Rincon Adobe that marks the entry to the estate and is pictured on the Talley Vineyards label. The vineyard is planted with 46 acres of chardonnay, 38 acres of pinot noir, 4 acres of sauvignon blanc, 2 acres of syrah, and 2 acres of riesling on two steep southerly facing hillsides that rise from the floor of the Arroyo Grande Valley. Small plantings of semillon and cabernet franc make up the balance of the 95 acre vineyard. Many of the vines in the Rincon Vineyard grow on their own roots and are low in vigor and yield small quantities of fruit with great concentration and complexity.

The soil in the Rincon Vineyard is shallow, and is composed of loam and calcareous clay. This soil type is reminiscent of the vineyards of Burgundy, particularly those located in the Côte de Nuits. The shallow soil, coupled with the steepness of the hills, facilitates drainage and results in chardonnay and pinot noir yields averaging less than three tons per acre.

Rosemary's Vineyard
Rosemary's Vineyard is located on a hillside surrounding Rosemary Talley's home about one mile west of the Rincon Vineyard and is characterized by white, rocky sandstone and loam soil, with some clay in the subsoil. Like the Rincon Vineyard, Rosemary's Vineyard is steep and very well drained. Because it is closer to the ocean, it is slightly cooler. Yields average less than three tons per acre.

Planting at Rosemary's Vineyard began in 1987 and was completed in 2001. The 28-acre vineyard is planted to 11 acres of chardonnay and 17 acres of pinot noir. The vineyard is divided into 14 separate sections of vines. The more recent plantings contain numerous clonal and rootstock selections resulting in 22 distinctive combinations.

Monte Sereno Vineyard
The tiny Monte Sereno Vineyard was planted in 2006 about 1 mile southwest of the winery, adjacent to a steep bluff that rises from the floor of the Arroyo Grande Valley. It consists of 2 acres of chardonnay and 1 acre of pinot gris.

Vineyards in the Edna Valley
Talley Vineyards owns two vineyards in the neighboring Edna Valley. Like the Arroyo Grande Valley, this valley runs east-west and enjoys a significant marine influence. Weather conditions are more extreme than the Arroyo Grande Valley, with colder temperatures in the winter, higher winds in the spring and warmer days in the late summer. Soils are diverse and range from heavy clays on the valley floor to thin sandstone and sandy clay loams on the hillsides.

Oliver's Vineyard
Oliver's Vineyard is a 36 acre vineyard planted to chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling. The first section of the vineyard was planted in 1991 and was named in honor of Talley Farms' founder Oliver Talley. The newer section was planted in 2006. This vineyard is characterized by heavier clay soils typical of the Edna Valley. The vines are moderately vigorous and yields average less than three tons per acre in the original 16 acre planting.

Stone Corral Vineyard
The family's other vineyard holding in the Edna Valley is called the Stone Corral Vineyard. The vineyard gets its name from the Corral de Piedra (Stone Corral in Spanish), the name of the original Spanish land grant that covered much of the Edna Valley. This 28-acre pinot noir vineyard was planted in the spring of 2001 and is made up of five distinct vineyard blocks planted to four clones of Pinot noir. Due to the diversity of soil types at the site, ranging from sandy clay loam bottom of the vineyard to fine textured sand at the top, three different low vigor rootstocks were selected. Clonal selections consist of Dijon clones 115, 667 and 777 as well as a selection from Rosemary's Vineyard.

The Stone Corral Vineyard is also unique in that the Talley family collaborated with local winemakers, Stephen Ross Dooley and Don Othman, in a long-term lease arrangement. The vineyard is divided into 5 distinct vineyard blocks, with each block divided into thirds and designated for Talley Vineyards, Stephen Ross Wines and the Kynsi Winery. Brian Talley and Kevin Wilkinson manage the vineyard. In a few short years, each winery has made highly acclaimed wines from this distinctive site.

High quality and long-term sustainability are the two principles that guide Talley Vineyards' farming decisions. Brian Talley and Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson collaborate to constantly strive to improve fruit quality while ensuring that the techniques employed work in harmony with the natural conditions of the individual vineyard sites. Biologically based farming techniques and integrated pest management practices are employed throughout the vineyards. To improve soil conditions, prevent erosion and provide fertility, cover crops are maintained in all vineyard blocks. Compost produced from a combination of the winery's grape pomace and horse manure is another key source of fertility.

The growing of premium wine grapes is highly labor intensive, especially the functions of pruning, shoot thinning, canopy management and harvest. With the availability of a well-trained labor force, all of these functions are performed by hand with full-time, year-round employees who are paid by the hour to ensure the highest possible quality. This is unique in California where most grape growers employ labor contractors seasonally, pay their workers on a piece-rate basis and increasingly rely on mechanized pruning and harvesting.

Shoot thinning and leaf and lateral shoot removal are employed throughout the vineyards to open the vine canopy and expose the grapes to more air and sunlight. This prevents powdery mildew and botrytis, two common problems in the cool foggy conditions typical in the coastal area, while promoting more even ripening of the fruit.

Harvest is the single most crucial determinant of quality in the vineyard. Talley Vineyards is in a unique position to control this important operation because of the availability of an experienced crew employed by Talley Farms. The harvesting crew is mobilized at the moment that the grapes reach optimum maturity. All grapes are carefully hand harvested during the cool hours of the morning, between 4AM and 9AM, and taken a short distance to the winery where they are immediately sorted and processed.

By controlling all aspects of grape growing, Talley Vineyards is able to ensure that quality takes priority over farming economics. Every bottle of Talley Vineyards wine is produced from vines planted by the Talley family on land owned and farmed by the Talley family.

Talley Vineyards is committed to the primacy of terroir in the wines we produce, and every step taken from vine to bottle reflects this approach. Winemaker Leslie Mead employs traditional Burgundian methods in the cellar to produce expressive and complex wines that best reflect their vineyard origins.

The chardonnay is cluster sorted and whole cluster pressed. The juice is only minimally settled in tank and then racked into medium-heavy toasted French oak barrels from the Allier and Vosges forests. The level of new oak used depends on the wine, but generally ranges between 25% and 35%. All of the wine is barrel fermented with various cultured yeast strains as well as native yeasts. Maximum fermentation temperatures are cool and range from 68°-74°F to preserve the natural fruit characteristics of the wine. As is traditional in Burgundy, all of the wine ages sur lie and undergoes malolactic fermentation to soften the natural acidity while adding richness and complexity to the finished wine. The Estate and Oliver's Vineyard chardonnays are typically bottled after 11 months in barrel, while the Rincon Vineyard and Rosemary's Vineyard wines age 14-16 months in barrel.

After cluster sorting, the pinot noir is predominantly destemmed, though 25% whole clusters are maintained in vineyard blocks that achieve good stem lignification. Destemmed grapes are berry sorted before they are gravity fed into small open top fermenters. Before fermentation, the must undergoes a "cold soak" of three to five days to extract color, aroma, and flavor. Only native yeasts ferment the pinot noir, with the objective being a long, slow fermentation. Maximum fermentation temperatures range from 85°-92° F. After a cuvaison of about ten days, the wine is racked, with minimal settling, into medium-heavy toasted Allier and Vosges barrels where it ages for 15-18 months before bottling. Generally 30-40% of the barrels are new.

Bottling and the period just before are also crucial to the quality of Talley Vineyards' wines. Before bottling, all of the chardonnay and pinot noir barrels are tasted individually. Any barrels not meeting the Talley Family's stringent quality standards are kept out of the final blend. The wines are then gently bottled, generally without filtration, using state-of-the-art bottling equipment.

Talley Vineyards is committed to the primacy of terroir in its wines, and every step taken from vine to bottle is reflective of this approach. It is this commitment that results in a consistency of quality from vintage to vintage which is the hallmark of a great winegrowing estate.