2023 Estate Pinot Noir

SAN LUIS OBISPO COAST

About the vineyards and vintage

Our signature red wine, the Estate Pinot Noir is crafted from our iconic vineyards on the San Luis Obispo Coast. The inaugural 1986 vintage was the first Pinot Noir that demonstrated the world class potential of the variety in the area. The 2023 season began with a wet winter and saturated soil conditions due to a series of atmospheric river systems that brought 49 1/2 inches of rain to the Arroyo Grande Valley, more than double the long-term average. Yields were abundant and the wines express charm and approachability.

Technical Information

Alcohol: 13.5%

Acid: 0.54g/100ml

pH: 3.65

Soil Type: Calcareous clays and shaly loam

Production: 4397 cases

Suggested Retail Price: $46

Vineyard Breakdown: 82% Rincon, 10% Rosemarys, 8% Stone Corral

Winemaking

SIP certified sustainably grown grapes were hand harvested at night, 85% destemmed and 15% whole cluster pressed and fermented in small open top bins with native yeast. The wine was aged in 23% new French Oak barrels for 14 months before bottling without fining or filtration. This wine is vegan.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Aromas of bing cherry, cardamon, resin and strawberry lead to flavors of cranberry, flint, forest floor and rich raspberry. The finish is vibrant. Try this wine with wild Pacific salmon or a wild mushroom and lentil ragout.

Scores: 93 points / Decanter – 92 points / Vinous

The History of the Estate Pinot Noir from Brian Talley- The early years of Pinot Noir in the San Luis Obispo Coast region were generally marked by failure.  Even though there were more consistently successful examples to our south in Santa Barbara County, most notably with the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, Pinot Noir didn’t fare as well in the Edna Valley.

As my dad began thinking about what clonal selections to plant, he traveled to UC Davis and had the opportunity to taste various clones.  He fell in love with a selection identified in California as UCD Clone 2A, which was a selection from Wadenswil Switzerland originally brought to California in 1952.  The combination of this superior clone, careful farming with moderate yields, and the distinctive shale and calcareous soils of the Arroyo Grande Valley, yielded Pinot Noir that started attracting attention.  Our first vintage in 1986 was the best wine we made that year.  Robert Parker tasted 1988 Estate Pinot Noir, and wrote a nice review.  Frank Prial wrote glowing reviews of the 1990 and 1994 Pinot Noirs in the New York Times.  Ernest Gallo even showed up one day.

Our approach to making Pinot Noir, shaped by a trip to Burgundy in 1994, has remained consistent.  The grapes are hand harvested at night, mostly destemmed, fermented with native yeast, and aged for 15-16 months in French Oak barrels.  It is generally bottled without fining or filtration.

During the 30 years that we have produced the Estate Pinot Noir, our farming approach has evolved.  We’ve moved from our original 12 foot California sprawl plantings, wide enough to drive a D4 Caterpillar down the centers, to meticulously trellised 6 foot rows where every shoot and cluster is perfectly trained.  What hasn’t changed is the distinctive savory edge and energy that makes these wines so unique.  It pairs really well with our local wild salmon.

Recipe | Grass-fed Burgers and Don’s Legacy Blend

Recipe from Grant Talley

As the 39th harvest season kicks off at Talley Vineyards, the energy around our farm is electric. Warm SLOcal days stretch into golden evenings, and the trucks and tractors filled with bell peppers and grapes are whizzing about. While harvest has always been at the heart of our story, this year brings something new to the table—literally. Grant Talley, part of the fourth generation of our family business, has expanded the Talley legacy into ranching by raising cattle on the open spaces around Talley Farms.

Grant is deeply rooted in California’s agricultural heritage, with his family farming here since the 1940s. His vision is simple but powerful: provide grass-fed and finished beef along the California coast, raised with respect for both the livestock and the land. By integrating cattle into the open pastures surrounding the farm, Grant is not only stewarding the landscape but also providing high-quality, sustainable beef for families across California.

This Labor Day, we’re pairing one of Grant’s favorite offerings — his grass-fed ground beef — with a recipe that’s as indulgent as it is approachable: Mushroom & Gruyère Burgers with Caramelized Onions. Juicy, earthy, and layered with flavor, it’s a perfect match for a glass of Don’s Legacy Blend or Pinot Noir.

SHOP GRANT’S GRASS FED

Mushroom & Gruyère Burger with Caramelized Onions

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs Grant’s grass-fed ground beef
• Salt & freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 brioche buns
• 1 ½ cups sliced cremini or porcini mushrooms
• 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter (or beef tallow)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 slices Gruyère cheese
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• Fresh arugula

Instructions:

1. Caramelize onions
   • In a skillet, cook onions low and slow with 1 Tbsp butter and olive oil until golden and sweet (25–30 min).
2. Sauté mushrooms
   • In the same pan, add butter and mushrooms. Cook until browned, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Form patties
   • Shape the beef into 4 patties. Season generously with salt and pepper just before cooking.
4. Cook burgers
   • Grill or pan-sear to medium-rare/medium to preserve juiciness and balance beautifully with Pinot Noir.
   • Top each patty with Gruyère during the last minute of cooking, allowing it to melt luxuriously over the beef.
5. Assemble
   • Toast brioche buns and spread Dijon mustard on the bottom.
   • Add the patty with melted cheese, pile on caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, a handful of arugula, and finish with the top bun. 

Pair with Don’s Legacy Blend

Recipe | How to Pair Pizza with Wine

Recipes from Our California Table by Brian Talley

What Grows Together Goes Together

Each year, just before harvest kicks off, we host a poolside pizza party with our production team to set the tone for the season ahead. This year, for our Staff Kickoff party we had the whole tasting room team come to celebrate our new fall releases and taste through the lineup with our winemaking team and learn about the wines we are going to share with all our members. This was an excellent opportunity to try all the wines and find out which wines pair best with which pizzas.

We tried a lot of combinations (it’s research, we promise), but two pairings quickly became favorites. First up: our Chardonnays paired with a pizza layered in shaved beets, squash blossoms, goat cheese, and a swirl of pesto. All of these ingredients are can be pulled straight from our Talley Farms Box. This pairing is about place. Our Chardonnays are bright, textured, and full of energy, with notes ranging from Lemon and Oyster Shell to yellow apple, jasmine, and mascarpone. That balance of orchard fruit, citrus, and coastal minerality lifts the earthiness of the beets, softens the tang of the goat cheese, and comes together in one juicy, farm-fresh bite.

And then there’s Pinot Noir and peppers. As my dad is a lifelong pepper grower, he’s always has a variation of this pizza (during pepper season). The sweetness and gentle spice of roasted bell peppers highlight the layered fruit and foresty notes in our estate-grown Pinot Noirs. Add mushrooms for an earthy edge or pepperoni for a little salt and sizzle. Our Pinots are known for their delicate and floral notes of berry, cherry, blood orange, and forest floor. You’ll find red fruits and spice, violets and pine, a little flint, and a lot of elegance, perfect for a fresh out of the oven pizza.

Pizza night has a bit of everything we value: great ingredients, estate-grown wines, and the people who bring it all together. If you’re looking for the perfect pairing at home, start with what’s in season and luckily our wines never go out of season.

Peppers Pizza with Pinot Noir

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mixed bell peppers (red, green, yellow) sliced into 1/2 inch strips
• Olive oil
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
• 3 ounces mixed cheese: mozzarella, fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram or oregano
• 2 sprigs thyme
• Optional: Sautéd mushrooms or pepperoni

Instructions:

1. Sauté peppers in 1 teaspoon olive oil with pinch of salt until they just begin to soften.
2. Drizzle olive oil on the crust, then add pepper flakes. Add mixed cheese and sautéd peppers. Finish with marjoram or oregano and thyme.

Shaved Beets, Squash Blossoms and Chardonnay

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium-size red beet
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 2-4 squash blossoms
• 3 ounces goat cheese
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Peel beet and boil it for about 10 minutes, until slightly softened. Slice thin with a mandoline.
2. Spread pesto over pizza dough, leaving about 1/2 inch around the perimeter. Arrange beet slices over pesto, followed by squash blossoms, then goat cheese. Add salt and drizzle with olive oil.

Recipe from Our California Table by Brian Talley

Fresh wild salmon is one of the true treasures of the Pacific. When the salmon are running in our coastal waters, I love to get the call from friends who fish and want to trade salmon for wine. The portabello mushrooms come from a mushroom farm I can see from my house. The soy sauce and brown sugar marinade in this dish results in a caramelized sweet and salty char that pairs nicely with Pinot Noir. If you have the time, this dish is even better prepared over an oak- wood fire, so that the components of smoke, earth, and sea combine in a soulful mélange.

Serves 4

Prep time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds wild salmon fillets, skin on
• 1 cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• Kosher salt
• Pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup leeks, white part only, sliced in half lengthwise
• 12 ounces portobello mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs—a mix of basil, marjoram, parsley

Instructions:

1. Place salmon fillets in a flat dish. Prepare a marinade by mixing soy sauce, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Marinate the fish for 45 minutes.
2. Toss portobello mushrooms and leeks with remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then grill the vegetables, starting the mushrooms grill side down. Turn over and grill until liquid pools in the mushrooms, about 10 minutes total time. Chop mushrooms and leeks into pieces, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, remove salmon from marinade, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill salmon skin side up for about 4 minutes until nice grill marks form. Turn over and grill for another 4-6 minutes skin side down for another 4 to 6 minutes. Check for doneness. The salmon should be juicy and not dry.
4. Place salmon fillets over the top of the leek-and-mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, and drizzle with olive oil to taste.

Grilled salmon and Pinot Noir are a perfect match. Enjoy!

2023 Estate Chardonnay

SAN LUIS OBISPO COAST

About the vineyards and vintage

The Estate Chardonnay is crafted from our iconic vineyards on the San Luis Obispo Coast. The blend includes Rosemary’s Vineyard, overlooking the Pacific and surrounding Rosemary Talley’s home; Rincon Vineyard, recognized as a California Grand Cru by Wine Enthusiast Magazine; and Oliver’s Vineyard, named after Talley Farms founder, Oliver Talley. The 2023 season began with a wet winter and saturated soil conditions due to a series of atmospheric river systems that brought 49 1/2 inches of rain to the Arroyo Grande Valley, more than double the long-term average. Yields were abundant and the wines express charm and approachability.

Technical Information

Alcohol: 13.7%

Acid: 0.64g/100ml

pH: 3.43

Soil Type: Calcareous clays and shaly loam

Production: 5351 cases

Suggested Retail Price: $38

Vineyard Breakdown: 41% Rincon, 32% Rosemary’s, 24% Oliver’s, 3% Monte Sereno

Winemaking

Certified sustainably grown grapes were whole cluster pressed and fermented with native yeasts in French Oak barrels, 23% of which were new. The wine aged for 11 months in barrel and 3 months in tank, completed malolactic fermentation and was bottled in December 2024. This wine is vegan.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Aromas of Honeycrisp apple, white peach, melon and pine lead to flavors of Granny Smith apple and wet slate that are fresh and bright. The finish is refreshingly juicy. Pair this wine with lemony risotto with asparagus or Elizabeth’s avocado toast.

The History of the Estate Chardonnay from Brian Talley- this wine dates back to our very first vintage in 1986. Up until that time, my family had focused on growing vegetables, an enterprise started by my grandfather in the Arroyo Grande Valley in 1948. Up until the late 1960s, every piece of land that we farmed we was leased. The first parcel that we purchased in 1966 included a beautiful gently sloping hillside that would later turn out to be a great vineyard site called Rosemary’s Vineyard.

My father was a visionary who aside from running a successful vegetable farm was an accomplished pilot, as well as voracious reader who enjoyed cigars and loved wine. By the late 1970s, he was thinking more carefully about what might grow on some of the hillsides immediately adjacent to our vegetable fields. He began planting the vines in 1982, tried his hand at winemaking in 1984 and 1985 and determined that he needed to hire a winemaker. Steve Rasmussen joined Talley Vineyards in 1986 and would serve as winemaker until 2004. My dad’s vision was to make wines that tasted like the grapes he grew, and he believed that estate grown wines were the ultimate expression of quality as a winegrower. The Chardonnay we made in 1986 was the first produced exclusively from the Arroyo Grande Valley, even though this AVA didn’t exist yet.

I joined the business in 1991, after graduating from UC Berkeley and working in a couple of wineshops along the way. I was given the very special opportunity to lead and develop our wine business from the ground up. I was immediately convinced that our way forward was to produce a more classical style that reflected terroir, or the all-encompassing reflection of place. One of the first things I did was to change the style of our Chardonnay to be made in the classic style of Burgundy, where Chardonnay originated. This means that the wines are whole cluster pressed and fermented in French Oak barrels with native yeast where they complete malolactic fermention and age on the lees for 9 months.

Since Eric Johnson became winemaker in 2010, the Estate Chardonnay has continued to evolve and improve as he has refined our winemaking, and now our viticulture. A notable step forward occurred with the introduction of fruit from Oliver’s Vineyard starting in 2020 after the approval of the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA.

Our Estate Chardonnay is truly the signature of Talley Vineyards. This is a great introduction to what we do and I think is a special reflection of the San Luis Obispo Coast, recognized as the coolest AVA in California due to its proximity to the ocean. The defining characteristics of the wine are fresh citrus aromas and flavors with refreshing energy. It pairs especially well with one of our signature crops, avocados, as well as with local seafood like petrale sole.

Enjoy a nice dinner with this Crab Cakes recipe, perfectly paired with our 2022 Oliver’s Vineyard Chardonnay. Named after Oliver Talley, the founder of Talley Farms and father to Don and Kenneth Talley, this beautiful vineyard is in the heart of the Edna Valley. The bright acidity and elegant structure of the Chardonnay beautifully complement the delicate flavors of the crab cakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (for brushing)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or
   lightly grease it.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the lump crabmeat, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, beaten egg, Dijon mustard, chopped parsley, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Gently mix until well combined, being careful not to break up the crabmeat too much.
3. Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape each portion into a round cake about 1 inch thick.
4. Place the crab cakes on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of the crab cakes with olive oil to help them brown.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the crab cakes are golden brown and firm to the touch.
6. Once baked, remove the crab cakes from the oven and let them cool slightly before serving.

Serve the baked crab cakes warm with your favorite dipping sauce or alongside a fresh
salad. Enjoy!