The vineyard was named in honor of Talley Farms' founder Oliver Talley. High quality and long term sustainability are the two principles that guide Talley Vineyards' farming decisions. As a result, Brian Talley and vineyard manager Rodolfo Romero work closely with winemaker Steve Rasmussen to constantly strive to improve fruit quality while ensuring that the techniques employed work in harmony with the natural conditions of the individual vineyard sites. For instance, pesticide use is generally avoided. Cover-crops and compost produced from a combination of the winery's grape pomace and horse manure are used to improve the soil conditions.
Drip irrigation is used only sparingly to augment natural rainfall.
Premium winegrowing is highly labor intensive. With the availability of a well trained labor force employed in the vegetable farming operation, all functions in the vineyard are performed by full-time, year round employees. One extremely labor intensive vineyard practice that is used to enhance fruit quality is leaf removal. Leaf pulling is employed throughout the vineyards to expose the grapes to more air and sunlight. This prevents powdery mildew, a common problem in the cool foggy conditions typical in the coastal area, while promoting more even ripening of the fruit.