Martinelli Winery tour is great all around
I guess the best way to describe Martinelli Winery and Vineyard is to introduce one of the owners, who graciously took time to tour Barbara and me. Regina is the great-granddaughter of the founders of the Martinelli Winery family, Luisa Vellutini and Giuseppe Martinelli, who eloped as teenagers from Tuscany in 1880 and founded a dynasty. Regina is a Cal Poly bachelor of science grad with a University of San Francisco master of science degree, and her favorite topic is psychology of business. Or so she says. Ten minutes into our tour it was readily apparent Regina is a highly educated farm girl with the soil still firmly in her toes’ grip. While we enjoyed a wide array of Martinelli product, Regina regaled us with childhood tales of picking rotting apples from the orchards, working with her dad Lee, sister Juliana and brothers Lee Jr. and George in the fields, and helping with the tying and other farm-related chores. She is a vivacious, outgoing, blond dynamo who reminded us of Nassau Valley Vineyards' Peggy Raley. In the course of our stay in Sonoma, no matter where we visited, the mention of Regina’s name brought smiles and friendliness from all the folks from busboys to wine shop employees to owners. Best of all, her hands confirmed her story. No amount of skin cream can disguise hardworking hands. And that’s a compliment, so hush.
Martinelli started as a fruit orchard and has grown into a very large, internationally known fine wine producer with such names as Bondi Ranch, Jackass Hill, Three Sisters Vineyards, Moonshine Ranch, Hop Camp Gravel Lens Vineyard Giuseppi and Luisa , Lolita Ranch, Zio Tony Ranch and Bella Vigna under their label. These vineyards are spread throughout the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast Fort Ross-Seaview AVAs. The winery showcase is in the heart of the Russian River area defined by routes 12, 101, 116 and River Road; about the size of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach as defined by the bay, the dairy on Route 9 and the ocean. The winery is a close neighbor to Kendall Jackson, La Crema, Sonoma Cutrer, DeLoach and Korbel, to name just a few. Tanzer, Raynolds and Laube write favorably of these wines, and Jackass Hill Zin 2012 was rated 96 points in 2010, 94 points in '11 and 96 points in '12 by the notoriously stingy IWA (Tanzer). In fact, I can’t remember a vintage where this Zin didn’t score in the 90s. Problem is that all the good press resulted in $100 bottles. For you, my thrifty friends with slimmer pocketbooks and less acute organoleptic sensibilities, the Martinelli Giuseppe and Luisa Zin consistently scores around 92 points and can be had in the lower to mid $50s. The 2009 and '11 are 93 points, great QPR and available. The 2009 shows a floral nose with a bouquet of rose, tobacco, anise and berries. Aromas flow through to the palate. It's made in a soft style and right in its drinking window. The 2011 was touted 94 by RP and came in at $65. As the noise has receded, the wine has slid to $57. It is a very great buy at this price. Big Buck Buddies and gal pals (can I say that?) take a look at some library wines, vinfolio.com/producer/martinelli.
We sampled quite a few Martinelli wines, so I think I will continue next week. They’re too good to be given short shrift. I want to leave this week with another recommendation from Regina. She sent us to Willi’s Wine Bar, the Mustards or French Laundry of Sonoma, only way more laid back and a whole lot more fun. It may have been the atmosphere or her name dropped magic, but I think the food there was better than the modern Napa names. We stopped in at 5 p.m. and nine small plates, nine 3-o.z glasses of wine to accompany, selected by a server named Jason Parisi from a 100-plus bottle list and 40-item menu presided over by Chef Colin Curtis and a cohort of talented cooks. We were ready to Louis 14th our way to the hotel. If you ever go to Sonoma, two spots to visit before you roll a 7 are Willi's and River's End. Grrrreat food in both places.
Email John McDonald at chjonmc@yahoo.com.
