92pts Vinous

The 2022 Zinfandel Giuseppe & Luisa emerges from a 1995 planted site with the Jackass Hill clone next to the winery on the Santa Rosa Plain. Strong floral notes meld into a core of red cherry fruit, apricot, white flowers and mint. As is often the case, this is intensely floral, almost suggestive of white grapes. This is such a pretty and expressive wine.

Winemaker Notes

Immediately upon pouring your nose is engulfed with aromas of dried cherries, stone fruit, black tea, and fresh picked raspberries. The palate is mouthcoating in an intriguing way from the layers of tannins. Flavors of ripe apricot, black cherry, and sweet cream are found on the palate. A hint of white pepper is present along with white peach in the lingering finish.

Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli planted three acres of Zinfandel in the Russian River Valley in the 1880s.The old vineyard is now known as Jackass Hill and remains the steepest non-terraced hillside vineyard in Sonoma County. Nearly one century later Giuseppe and Luisa’s grandson, Lee Martinelli Sr., followed in their footsteps by planting a Zinfandel vineyard. He grafted bud wood from the centurion vines onto low-vigor rootstocks and planted them one meter by two meters apart, equating to about 2,000 vines per acre, on a rocky knoll above the Martinelli Winery Tasting Room in Russian River Valley.

Winery Notes

The Martinelli Family has been growing grapes and making wine in the Russian River Valley since the late 1880s. As 5th generation stewards of some of the finest vineyards in the region, they’re proud to continue this legacy of hands-on farming, bringing decades of experience to everything they do.
Their primary goal has always been hand-crafting quality wines that are born in their estate vineyards. All of their grapes are Estate grown, allowing us to use only their favorite blocks for each vineyard designated wine. They have a commitment to quality and have never offered for sale a wine that they felt did not live up to the reputation and expectations of its label. They also try to maintain a sense of consistency with each vintage, while still allowing the true nature of the vineyard to shine through. These wines are limited production and each vineyard is hand farmed very carefully, producing only the finest quality fruit.