Saturday, August 31, 2013

8/30-Michael Jordan talks to Tegan Passalacqua & Jeff Steele

Tegan Passalacqua - Winemaker & Vineyard Manager, Turley Wine Cellars

A veritable human viticultural vade mecum, Tegan shares Larry Turley’s passion for old vine vineyards and the wines they painstakingly produce.  After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Sacramento State in 2001, Tegan got his start in the wine business as a lab technician at Napa Wine Company, supplemented by night classes in Viticulture & Oenology at the Napa Junior College.  In 2003 he headed to New Zealand for an internship with Doug Wisor at Craggy Range.  While there he sent a letter to Ehren Jordan, then winemaker for Turley.  Tegan was hired as a harvest intern in 2003 but was quickly offered a full time job when his talent in the vineyard became apparent.  Tegan has since further honed his skills working harvests with Alain Graillot in the northern Rhône Valley as well as Eben Sadie in Swartland, South Africa.
Between his travels & rigorous vineyard duties, Tegan began gradually taking on more of the Turley winemaking responsibilities as well, eventually becoming head Winemaker & Vineyard Manager in 2013.  A founding member of the non-profit Historic Vineyard Society, he now oversees the winemaking and vineyard duties for all 35 vineyards and 28 wines, logging some serious miles on his Subaru.


For the 5th year in a row, cigar connoisseurs and wine enthusiasts will gather in Paso Robles for the Central California Coast’s premiere festival, Crush & Roll West. This celebration of premium cigars, premium wine and the good life, takes place Sept. 6-7, 2013 in the heart of the Central Coast wine country. In addition to sampling world-class cigars and wines, attendees will learn the finer points of both from expert vintners and cigar manufacturers.
This year once again, both the Friday evening and Saturday events will be held at the Paso Robles Event Center, which is home to hundreds of events throughout the year, including the yearly California Mid-State Fair. The Event Center is right off the 101 freeway and is easily accessible from any of the fine Paso Robles hotels and motels. Cost for the two-day event is $140 and there are separate prices for Friday-only, Saturday-only and an Early-bird special. Activities include complimentary cigar and wine tasting, cigar rolling demonstrations, seminars, raffles, auctions, poker tourney, music, and much more.

Roxo Port Cellars is a family owned winery specializing in ultra premium Port-style wines. Metodo Portugues adorns our label and translates to “the Portuguese method.”  We pledge to make Port-style wine using only traditional methods with minimal interference. Our grapes are exclusively hand-picked and sourced from esteemed Paso Robles and Cienega Valley vineyards in California. Each vineyard was carefully selected for its location, farming practices and superior fruit.