Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California (7) Martinelli
Website: https://martinelliwinery.com/
Martinelli is one of the classic traditional wineries of the Russian River Valley. I visited with Julianna Martinelli, one of the family (quite a few are still involved in the business, she looks after sales and marketing) and winemaker Courtney Wagoner. They are known for making bold wines, often with quite high alcohol levels, but these wines are really good.
Julianna gave me a potted history. Her great grandparents Giuseppe and Luisa were from Tuscany and they eloped as teenagers because their coupling wasn’t approved of: the families didn’t like each other. Luisa’s father was a drinker, and he took her money when she earned it, so she wan’t inclined to stay.
The young couple came to the USA on a cattle boat in the mid 1880s. They arrived in Forestville in 1885 and then Giuseppe worked for a farmer in Grayton in an old Zinfandel vineyard. Sunday was his only day off so he walked the area along Green Valley Creek, and he came to the site where Martinelli’s Jackass vineyard is now. It was already an established vineyard, so they don’t know when it was planted, but he bought it in 1889. ‘We think it could be one of the oldest vineyards in the USA,’ says Louisa. They set up their homestead there. He also made charcoal from trees and sold it. River Road was a train track until 1960, so he’d haul his coal there and load it up on the train and it went to heat homes. They also made prune brandy from their orchard.
Prohibition came. Great grandmother Luisa went to jail for bootlegging, but there’s an interesting story behind this. They had a still and paid off the officials so that they could keep going. They were allowed to make a small amount of wine as a bonded winery, but they weren’t allowed to do any distilling. But they did, to raise revenue selling the bootleg in order to pay their property tax – a lot of people lost their land for that reason, because it wasn’t making any money and they couldn’t pay the tax.
She sent money to Italy to get two mail order brides for her sons as she wanted true Italians for them. These prospective brides hopped on the boat, but on the ship they fell in love with members of the band and ended up moving to New York. So she sent her sons to Italy to marry two sisters, Natalina and Giuseppa. They arrived. But the sherrif had been asking for more payments to keep the still secret hidden, and she refused to pay and went to jail. So the first time her daughters in law met her she was incarcerated.
A film of the visit to Jackass:
The sixth generation are now involved in Martinelli. When her father was growing up he was discouraged from farming and ended up teaching high school in Santa Rosa, as well as farming Jackass Hill. The grapes were all sold. His uncle Tony Bondi passed away and her father had to make a choice. Tony owned a huge apple orchard, so he finished the school year and took up apple farming. Slowly but surely he converted the orchard to grapes.
We took a drive to see the Jackass Vineyard, and the neighbouring Jackass Hill Vineyard. These are quite remarkable. Jackass was already planted when the Martinellis purchased it in 1889, so it’s really old. Jackass Hill is a steep 2.5 acre plot next to this which was planted in 1892. The old Zinfandel vines are like small trees.
Martinelli make their wines 100% from their own vineyards.
THE WINES
Martinelli Charles Ranch Vineyard Chardonnay 2021 Fort Ross Seaview, West Sonoma Coast
Old Wente Clone on AXR, planted in 1981. 800 vines/acre. Richly textural with bold pear and citrus fruit, with very delicate toasty hints. Pure and linear with subtlety but also some mid-palate richness. Subtle notes of aniseed and dried herbs, with a lovely purity, and maybe even a touch of salinity. 95/100
Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Chardonnay 2021 Russian River Valley
Laguna Ridge neighbourhood, with red Goldridge soil, with some iron in it. Highly aromatic with open pear and peach fruit, and some fine spiciness. The palate is richly weighted with ripe pear and some juicy lemon on the finish. A nice combination of ripe fruit with some warmth on the mid-palate, and great balance on the finish. 94/100
Martinelli Three Sisters Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Fort Ross Seaview, Sonoma Coast
14.9% alcohol. 2000 vines/acre, Dijon clones and a little Pommard. This is highly aromatic with floral red cherry and aniseed notes with a touch of cinnamon. The palate is supple and sweetly fruited with a sense of freshness to the ripe strawberry and cherry fruit. Lovely wine in a rich style with liqueur-like quality to the fruit, but also freshness and elegance. 94/100
Martinelli Winery Bondi Home Ranch Pinot Noir 2022 Russian River Valley
Tony Bondi was one of the largest apple growers in the region. The market collapsed in the late 1990s and this vineyard was planted in 1997. It’s their first vineyard to bloom and the last to pick. This is ripe, fruity and generous with some richness, showing lush, ripe cherry fruit with a smooth palate and soft tannins. There’s a bit of spicy structure, but this is all about ripe, easy fruit with massive approachability. 91/100
Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir 2022 Russian River Valley
15.2% alcohol. Six clones: 115, 777, 667, Calera, Quail Hill and Elite. This is concentrated and rich, but also fresh, with bold cherry and berry fruits with a smoothness and richness from the elevated alcohol. Bold and rich, but with a seamless texture and quite a bit of elegance. A distinctive wine. 93/100
Martinelli Lolita Ranch Zinfandel 2021 Russian River Valley
16.3% alcohol. On Martinelli Road, a steep site, planted 2001 years ago . Green Valley neighbourhood. Powerful and bold, with a core of sweet blackberry and black cherry fruit, with some saltiness and spicy detail. Great concentration and a lovely fruit quality with some alcoholic warmth. Despite the alcohol this has really good balance and weight. Finishes salty with some grainy tannins. 95/100
Martinelli Jackass Vineyard Zinfandel 2021 Russian River Valley
16.6% alcohol. This is beautifully ripe and rich, with nice texture and depth to the fruit, and notes of black tea, aniseed and sweet black cherries, with some stewed strawberry too. Shows real intensity and depth with some finesse as well, layered with genuine complexity and a warm finish that works really well. 95/100
EXPLORING THE RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY, SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
