Martinelli Winery & Vineyards

The Martinelli family has been growing grapes in the Russian River Valley since the 1880’s. At the ages of 19 and 16, Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini eloped from their small village in the Tuscany region of Italy, making their way to California looking for land to farm and start a winery. Giuseppe had been a winemaker in Italy and with his viticulture knowledge he was hired to plant a vineyard for a farmer in Forestville. Within two years he earned enough money, and borrowed some from a local wood cutter, to purchase land of his own. Working side by side on a 60 degree slope, Giuseppe and Luisa planted a small area of Zinfandel and Muscat Alexandria vines, which later became known as the Jackass Hill vineyard. Over 100 years later, this south easterly exposure remains the steepest non-terraced vineyard in Sonoma County.

In 1918 Giuseppe died, leaving Luisa with four children and the farm to care for. Their youngest son, Leno was twelve years old at the time and had wanted no other career in life than to be a farmer. Leno’s two older brothers wanted nothing to do with the impossibly steep hillside, so after completing the eighth grade, Leno finished school and took on the sole responsibility of farming the Zinfandel vineyard. His family told him that only a jackass would farm a hill that steep. Hence, he and his vineyard earned the name Jackass Hill. Leno received all of his farming knowledge from his parents and through his own lifelong experience of tending the vines the way his father had. He even continued using a horse and plow until 1950’s. At the age of 89, Leno decided to hang up the keys to his John Deere, and handed the vineyard over to his son, Lee Sr. Following the family tradition, Lee was introduced to vineyard work at the age of seven, performing all seasonal tasks necessary, and learning the old viticulture practices handed down through the generations.

In 1973 Lee Sr. took over management of his Uncle Tony Bondi’s estate, which was comprised mainly of apple orchards, and began planting vineyards in the rich soil of the Russian River Valley. Soon considered a premium grape grower, Lee’s fruit was in great demand from many wineries. Lee and his wife, Carolyn, realized the exceptional potential to create superb wines from these grapes, and decided to start their own winery.

Along River Road where two old hop barns are situated, the four young Martinelli children could be seen on the property hand-polishing and packing Gravenstein and Golden Delicious apples to sell, along with fresh pressed apple juice. The Martinelli’s realized this was the perfect place to also make and sell wine. These two historic hop barns were converted into a wine-making facility and tasting room, keeping with the original feel and structure of these centurion buildings. Inside the Tasting Room, you can still see the hop pickers’ writings on the walls and doors from the early 1900’s. To this day, the Martinellis still sell more grapes then are used to make their own wines; about 90% of the grapes they farm are sold to other Sonoma County wineries. Lee Sr. and his two sons, Lee Jr. and George, continue the proud legacy of care-taking the land, and you may meet one of the Martinelli daughters, Julianna or Regina, on the road at various events or at the winery.

Blue Slide Ridge

Blue Slide Ridge is named for its magnificent formations of blue rock. Directly below the vineyard a sheer cliff drops into the small winding creek, the south fork tributary of the Gualala River, showing off great cerulean shards jutting out from beneath the earth's surface. This vineyard site was nearly named "Rattle Snake Ridge" due to the large population of rattlers that populate the cool hollows beneath the great blue rocks. In 1995 Lee and Carolyn Martinelli planted this 6 acre vineyard of Pinot Noir on a steep slope which was once prime grazing land for sheep. This small vineyard was planted to the specifications of our past winemaker, Helen Turley, and her husband John Wetlaufer.

Bondi Home Ranch

In the late 1800's Paolo Antoni Bondi left his small stone village high in the green Tuscan mountains of Fivizzano, eventually making his way to the small countryside town of Sebastopol, California. Watertrough Road, which runs along the eastern end of the property, is so named for the horse trough that once sat in the low vale where, 100 years ago, horses pulling buggies stopped to water. Just below this narrow dirt road is where Paolo planted a field of potatoes and in the course of just one year had made enough money to buy the farmhouse and the surrounding acres of apple orchard from his boss. Once settled, Paolo sent money back to Italy so his bride, Gemma, and their 3 year old daughter, Alma, could join him and here they stayed to farm for the remainder of their lives.

The Charles Ranch​

The Charles Ranch was once one of the largest sheep ranches in Sonoma County. George Charles was a fourth generation rancher in the vast rugged hills and raised 2,000 head of sheep along with a small herd of bison. George's son-in-law, Lee Martinelli Sr., was a successful third generation grape grower and consulted with George as to which grape variety would be the most suitable to plant in this unique climate. This distinct micro-climate is two miles inland from the Pacific coastline and is greatly influenced by the coastal fog.

Chico’s Hill​

Chico’s Hill is a one acre vineyard on an easterly facing slope. It has a great soil profile which is predominantly fractured rock. Fractured rock makes for great growing conditions because the rock warms the earth by the early morning sun, stimulating vine growth, and in addition, rain water penetrates the soil depth easily and also drains off easily. The landscape is long and narrow, approximately a 45 degree slope, and is actually shaped like a horse’s nose. The rows are oriented in a north-south direction to equalize sunlight exposure on both sides of the canopy morning and afternoon. For vine training we installed a vertical trellis system with fruit wire sitting 22 inches above ground level, encouraging consistent ripening of the grape clusters. The vineyard consists solely of clone 877.

Hop Camp Vineyard

On the label of the Hop Camp Syrah we have added in quotations, “Gravel Lense,” a very rare soil type referred to as “Cortina.” Over the eons the ancient river bed changed its course, depositing layers of gravel throughout the years at different depths, creating a rare and wonderful alluvial soil layered with these gravel lenses. This type of well drained soil is imperative in the successful production especially of high quality Syrah, as it is and as it controls the vigor of the vines.

The primary goal of Martinelli Winery has always been hand-crafting quality wines that are born in our estate vineyards, using only our favorite blocks for each vineyard designated wine. We have a commitment to quality and have never offered for sale a wine that we felt did not live up to the reputation and expectations of its label. We 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 small production and each vineyard is hand farmed meticulously, producing only the finest quality fruit.

We use a hands-off approach during the winemaking process, allowing the wine to go through a set of natural processes with minimal intervention, although this approach actually requires more expertise and attention from the winemaking team. Our wines are fermented with naturally occurring yeasts, which enhance the flavor and texture of the wine. The wines are kept in barrel for 10 months, are unfiltered and unfined, and clarified only by racking before bottling.