"Wine brightens the life and thinking of anyone"
--- Thomas Jefferson
History of Grape Growing in the Kurtural Family
The Kurtural family has a long history of tending grapevines in the eastern Mediterranean since the late 1700s. The family straddles the Balkan peninsula and the sunny shores of the Aegean. The historical family vineyard in ancient Magnesia is home to autochthonous grapes of the region typically utilized in making distilled spirits. The 180 acre vineyard is still commercially farmed by Kurtural Sr.
Academia
When Kaan Kurtural set sail for the United States he wasn’t set on becoming an academic. But he honed his academic skills in plant physiology and was a professor at Fresno State and UC Davis for a total of 18 years. He published quite extensively, but mostly worked with the wine grape growers of California in all districts in topics ranging from vineyard efficiency, irrigation and climate change mitigation. He was mentored by the late Fred Franzia and learned every aspect of the grape and wine business from one of the titans of the wine industry in California.
Kurtural Family Vineyards
Kurtural Family Vineyards was formed in 2022, and they operate Slayback vineyard in Solano County. The vineyard was initially the site of Putah Creek Winery and supplied grapes to all the major Napa County wineries by the legendary grape grower Gene Glaeser. Seeing the potential of the site while learning to tame the unforgiving terroir from Gene, Kaan and Carrie took over all aspects of farming at this location and continue growing excellent grapes for their own label. The vineyard is home to wine maker clones of Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon blanc, and Syrah. The old vine Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah are 30+ years old and are highly sought after. Kaan does the majority of the farming including all agronomy, spraying and irrigation with their sons Anthony and Dom.
