Dear Brian,
We are excited to share with you our upcoming Spring offering!
At 9am PST on February 15th you will receive an email notifying you that the release is open. All of our wines are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to secure your wines as soon as you receive the email so you don’t miss out.
You may recognize the Pinot Noirs listed below from your Spring offering last year. In 2020 we made the tough decision to not vinify any Pinot Noir due to the potential for smoke damage from the nearby wildfires that August. This leaves us without a new vintage of Pinot Noir to offer you during this release. However, we did plan ahead by reserving some of the 2019 Pinots to re-release, which is what you will have access to next week.
Below we have featured one of the wines included in the release – our Vellutini Ranch Syrah.
Thank you so much for your interest in our wines, we look forward to sharing them with you.
Salute,
The Martinelli Team
Vellutini Ranch
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
1885 was the year my great-grandparents, Giuseppe and Luisa, put down roots here in Forestville, California. Luisa Vellutini’s father was well known in the mountain village of Tuscany for his unambitious nature with the exception of emptying a jug of wine. Though he did not want her to marry, she and Giuseppe eloped as teenagers to the United States. They searched for a place to farm and where Giuseppe could make wine. Luisa sent letters home from California to Tuscany exclaiming upon the fertile hills and valleys in West Sonoma County. Eventually Luisa’s Vellutini cousins left Italy and settled right next to the Martinelli’s with a purchase of 40 acres from Giuseppe.
In year 2000 Lee Sr. and Carolyn Martinelli bought back the same 40 acres and named it Vellutini Ranch. Lee Sr. planted Zinfandel and Syrah on the steep slope which runs along the same ridge as Jackass Hill facing to the west, while bordering Chico’s Hill Syrah Vineyard. The Zinfandel is planted with budwood from our historic vineyards, Jackass Hill and Jackass Vineyard. Lee Sr. hired his grandson, Anthony, whom saved the money to work harvest in Australia the next year, to help plant the young vines. For purposes of erosion control on the steep hillside, holes for planting were dug by hand with an 18 inch auger.
The more technical aspects of the property are key to growing grapes for fine winemaking. The fractured rock just beneath the surface forces the vines’ roots to travel deep for nutrients while keeping the grapevine from being too vigorous. The soil type is Franciscan which is commonly found in steep forested uplands with slopes between 9 and 75 percent. The morning fog which laces the Redwood trees keeps this area cool for a longer ripening season, allowing the grapes to develop rich flavors.
The Vellutinis’ old house on the ranch still thrives with family life. Fruit trees planted decades ago still bear persimmons, pears, figs, Gravenstein apples, walnuts, and peaches. The more recently installed chickens roam the yard.
The European immigrants knew from eons of experience that the steepest hillsides were the most conducive to growing the very best wine grapes. They applied this measure of their innate geographic knowledge to the New World by saving the valley floors for their kitchen gardens and hay fields.
Giuseppe and Luisa’s dream still resides here, happily growing grapes to make wine for future generations to harvest and enjoy.
Salute, from our family to yours, 
Julianna G. Martinelli
Available Wines
Chardonnay
2019 Zio Tony Ranch Chardonnay
2019 Three Sisters Chardonnay
Pinot Noir
2019 Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir
2019 Bondi Home Ranch Pinot Noir
Syrah
2019 Vellutini Ranch Syrah
Zinfandel
2020 Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel
Save The Date
vinoinfo@martinelliwinery.com
Tel: (800) 346-1627
Martinelli Winery
3360 River Rd
Windsor, CA 95492-9671
Copyright © 2021 Martinelli Winery, All rights reserved.