WINEMAKER SERVES UP YOLO’S SECRETS.
To glean the finer points of winemaking, Chris Turkovich crisscrossed the globe from California to Chile to Australia and New Zealand.
When it came time to start his own winery, though, there was only one place he considered: his hometown of Winters, where his family has farmed for three generations.
Emboldened by a mission to bring more prominence to Yolo County as a winemaking region, he established Turkovich Family Wines in 2007, and its downtown tasting room three years later.
“The county has a rich history of growing grapes, but much of it was exported,” says Turkovich, 32, who graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in viticulture. “When you get anyplace outside of Sacramento, people don’t know where Yolo County is. They don’t know we’re doing wine — and doing good wine — here.”
On 20 acres of his family’s 6,000acre farm, he has planted Southern Rhone varietals, as well as more esoteric ones such as Tannat and Graciano. The winery produces 20 wines, totaling 5,000 cases annually. It also makes a small amount of sparkling wine in Mendoza, Argentina, where Turkovich’s wife, Luciana, was raised. Turkovich met her when the two were working in Australia. She is now the lead winemaker for Turkovich Family Wines.
It’s an apt name because it truly is a family affair. Turkovich’s mom helped decorate the tasting room. His older brother has taken photos that have hung on the walls. And his younger brother founded the Winters Cheese Co., the only local cheese maker in a county with only one remaining commercial dairy.
Turkovich now runs the cheese company, which shares a tasting space with the winery tasting room. The cheese company now produces as many as four types, including its top-selling Tinto, a medium-hard cheese that sports a purple rind from being washed in Turkovich’s Petite Sirah.
“If you’re in Sacramento, which is only 35 minutes from our vineyard, it’s hard to find Yolo County wines on a wine list or in a wine store,” he says with a shrug. “We’re under the radar. It’s a hidden secret for consumers that you can get these quality wines and they’re affordable.”