Failla

Press

  • "Top 100 Most Influential U.S. Winemakers. Ehren Jordan is better known, or maybe not, as the winemaker at Turley, not Helen herself, for 18 years, helping to craft iconic California Zinfandels. But his Failla label has taken off and is an anomaly in Napa where he makes tightly allocated and highly regarded Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah, proof that the right winemakers can make high alchohol Zinfandels while also making delicate Pinot Noir. The San Francisco Chronicle named him Winemaker of the Year in 2008." (Into Wine)
  • "FAILLA (FAY-la) is a top-notch source of high quality, European-inspired wines that combine flavor, intensity and elegance. Given proprietor Ehren Jordan’s experience working in France, it is not surprising that his wines possess French-like acid profiles as well as an unmistakable minerality. Jordan is a Francophile, and his impressive resume includes being one of the masterminds behind the Turley Zinfandels. He is all about natural winemaking, securing top terroirs, and putting into the bottle the essence of what the grape and the site have produced.” (Robert Parker)

Basic Info

Back in 1994, after having completed stints with Joseph Phelps and Jean-Luc Columbo, Ehren Jordan still needed a paying job. Enter Helen Turley and her husband Jon Wetlaufer, who hired Ehren to work at Marcassin, their estate vineyards on the Sonoma Coast where the steep hillsides resemble those of Cornas. Ehren quickly recognized how Rhône-like the conditions were in this little known viticultural area and scraped together the money to buy a gorge-laced 40-acre parcel with only five plantable acres which three years later became our Estate vineyard. In the meantime, Helen introduced Ehren to her brother Larry Turley, proprietor of Turley Wine Cellars, where Ehren became Helen’s winemaking assistant. Ehren eventually took over full-time winemaking duties with the 1996 vintage. To his hat-trick of General Manager, Winemaker, and Viticulturalist at Turley Wine Cellars, Ehren is now an instrument-rated private pilot with single- and multi-engine privileges. Being able to jet around to TWC’s far-flung outposts is crucial to manufacturing those 25th and 26th hours in the day.

Country:
USA
Region:
North Coast
Sub region:
Sonoma County
Year founded:
1998
Owner:
Ehren Jordan, Anne-Marie Failla
Winemaker:
Ehren Jordan
Organic:
Organic
website:
www.faillawines.com