Wine: Martinelli: “Terra Felice”

California

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Martinelli

The Martinelli family has been growing grapes in the Russian River Valley since 1887.  At the ages of 19 and 16, Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini eloped from their small village in the Toscany 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 viticultural 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 purcahse some land.  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 knows as the Jackass Hill vineyard.  Over 100 years later, this south easterly exposure remains the steepest non-terraced vineyard in Sonoma County.

All of the Martinelli Estate vineyards are farmed by Lee Martinelli, Sr., and sons Lee, Jr., and George Martinelli. The wines are made by our winemaker, Helen Turley, and assistant winemaker, Bryan Kvamme. These handcrafted wines are un-fined, un-filtered, neither cold nor heat stabilized and may contain naturally occurring sediment. We recommend decanting or allowing the bottle to sit upright in a cool place prior to serving. Enjoy!

“There was an old world sensibility to the wine in terms of it’s smokiness, meatiness and dirt characteristics I associate with wines from the old country, but there was no denying that the fruit was all California.”  The Terra Felice Syrah is laden with rich flavors and aromas of plum, violets, raw meat, and tobacco.

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