Brian is a third-generation fruit and vegetable farmer from the Arroyo Grande Valley on California’s Central Coast. His grandfather, Oliver Talley, founded Talley Farms in 1948. Brian grew up working on the farm. In 1982, when Brian was in high school, his parents sought to diversify their crops by planting grapes at what is now Talley’s Rincon Vineyard.

In 1982, when Brian was in high school, his parents began planting grapes at what is now Talley’s Rincon Vineyard to diversify their crops. 

“My grandfather liked Riesling,” recalled Brian. “But we planted the vineyard to Chardonnay. The Oliver's Chardonnay, named after him, became his house wine.”

In the early years, Brian helped make a few experimental homemade vintages.

“It was just a seven-acre vineyard at the start,” he said. “We sold the grapes for a few years and then made a few examples of wines to show people. We started making our own commercial releases in 1986. I was studying at Berkeley at the time.”

While he was at UC Berkeley, their winemaking consultant, Steve Rasmussen, suggested Brian work at the “Curds and Whey” wine shop in Oakland. Tasting an Oregon Pinot Noir there—1985 Knudsen Erath Vintage Select—seeded his passion for planting Pinot Noir.

“Another of my early inspirations was the Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon,” said Brian. “I mean the way it was back then. It was classic, great-value Napa Cab. I wanted to follow that model.”

Brian returned home after graduating from college in 1988 to join the family business. In 1991, he took on the role of General Manager of Talley Vineyards. Among his mentors, including his father, was Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat.

“We sold grapes for many years to Au Bon Climat, and they found from their library that our vineyards tend to age very well,” Brian said. “My father really wanted to produce varietally correct wines. I wanted to take it further when I took over and have them reflect the place. Each wine has its own personality dictated by the place it’s grown.”

Brian co-founded the World of Pinot Noir event (WOPN), a popular gathering for boutique producers to showcase small-lot Pinot Noirs. He was also integral to the establishment of the new San Luis Obispo Coast AVA, highlighting this area as the coolest viticultural zone in California. 

Today, Talley Vineyards encompasses seven estate vineyards with 129 acres of vines in total, including Arroyo Grande Valley’s East Rincon, West Rincon, Las Ventanas, Monte Sereno, Rosemary’s Vineyard, and Edna Valley’s Oliver’s Vineyard and Stone Corral. They sell fruit to over twenty wineries.

“I started our Bishop's Peak label a few years ago,” said Brian, referring to their $25, super-value Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. “I saw that a lot of entry-level Chardonnays were bulked out with oak chips and residual sugar. This is an honest, authentic Chardonnay that is bone dry with no chips, just some neutral oak barrels. We block the malolactic on this Chardonnay, whereas the Talley Chardonnays all go through malolactic.”

The Talley Chardonnays, including the Estate label and the single vineyards, are all whole cluster pressed.

“After pressing, the juice settles and is run into oak barrels for native yeast barrel fermentation and natural malolactic,” explained Brian. “They are bottled without filtration. Single vineyards are racked into neutral barrels until bottling.”

The Chardonnays are aged 14-16 months on lees in 20-40% new French oak barrique and puncheon barrels.

The Estate Chardonnay incorporates six of the seven family-owned vineyards. 

“The backbone of our Estate Chardonnay is Rincon, Rosemary's, and Oliver's,” Brian pointed out.

Single vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are produced from Rincon Vineyard, Rosemary’s Vineyard, Oliver’s Vineyard, and Stone Corral.

In addition to the new 2022 releases, I tasted the 2013 Rosemary’s Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Both are spectacular wines that have aged gracefully. The 2013 Chardonnay offers alluring notes of candied ginger, cashews, and honey toast, leading to a core of apple butter and brioche, possessing a good 5-7 more years of cellaring potential. The 2013 Pinot Noir is at its peak, revealing notes of dried cherries, raspberry coulis, and strawberry preserves, plus underlying suggestions of fallen leaves, powdered cinnamon, and fragrant earth. Both prove that although these wines can be delicious from the get-go, it is also worth forgetting about a few bottles for a few years in the cellar.

The Talley family has managed to stay true to their salt-of-the-earth origins and continues to farm fruits and vegetables. Apart from vineyards, Talley Farms grows 30 different types of produce across approximately 1,500 acres.

“I part-own the vegetable farms along with my cousins,” Brain said. “Our vegetable business is four times the size of our wine business. Growing things is in my blood.”

The total production for Talley Vineyards now is around 20,000 cases, mostly the Bishop’s Peak and Estate labels.