History
The vineyard sits directly behind the St. Helena Public Library, off Library Lane, surrounded by municipal buildings and houses. It was planted in stages between 1880 and 1920 in the ordinary way of the period, which meant putting many varieties in the same rows and treating the result as one crop. Turley Wine Cellars bottles it, and the site is one of the clearest surviving illustrations of how Napa planted vineyards before varietal labelling existed.
The Site
An urban island on the valley floor inside the city limits, low, flat and entirely enclosed by the town that grew up around it.
Vines and Blocks
One field parcel with the varieties tangled together in the same rows. Petite Sirah leads, interplanted with Peloursin, Cinsault, Syrah, Mission, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir, Carignan, Grenache and Zinfandel among the reds, and with Muscat of Alexandria, Muscadelle, Burger and Green Hungarian among the whites. Turley picks the whole field together, so the blend is decided by what was planted a century ago rather than in the cellar.
The Wines
Turley's Library Vineyard Petite Syrah is dense and spice-driven, with white pepper, lavender, chocolate and leather over a firm tannin grip, and it tastes distinctly of a field rather than a variety.