The Martinelli family has farmed the Russian River Valley since Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli planted vineyards in the late 1800s, after emigrating from Tuscany. Today the family makes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and Syrah from estate vineyards including the legendary 60-degree Jackass Hill Zinfandel block. Tasting room on River Road.
The Martinelli family's roots in the Russian River Valley reach back to 1887, when Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli emigrated from Tuscany, settled near the small town of Forestville, and planted their first vineyards on a steep, exposed hillside that came to be known as Jackass Hill — said to be named because only a jackass would farm a slope that steep. The 60-degree Zinfandel block is still in production today and is among the oldest continuously farmed vineyards in California. Across four generations the family expanded into ranching, hop-growing, and apple orchards before consolidating around wine grapes; the current generation farms more than 470 acres across Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Bennett Valley.
Jackass Hill Zinfandel, Russian River Valley — The icon; dry-farmed, head-pruned fruit from 140-year-old vines on the steepest non-terraced vineyard in Sonoma County.
Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel — Grafted from the Jackass Hill budwood, bottled under the family's original 1880s label.
Blue Slide Ridge Pinot Noir — A prestige bottling from the family's extreme Sonoma Coast vineyard.
Estate Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Site-driven Chardonnay from the family's generations-old plantings.
Jackass Hill Muscat of Alexandria — A rare dessert-style white from 140-year-old vines interplanted in the historic Zinfandel block.
The Martinelli winery as it exists today was founded in 1987 by Lee Sr. and Carolyn Martinelli, who began making wine under their own label after decades of selling grapes to other producers. Helen Turley joined as consulting winemaker in 1993 and shaped the house style — small lots, native fermentation, generous oak — over fifteen formative years; Erin Green is the current winemaker. The lineup spans single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, and a legendary array of Zinfandels from the Jackass Hill, Jackass Vineyard, and Giuseppe & Luisa blocks. The tasting room on River Road in Windsor occupies a converted 1918 hop barn, with visits by reservation for seated flights focused on current releases and library selections.
Erin Green has been Martinelli's consulting winemaker since 2010, working alongside winemaker Courtney Wagoner to craft the family's estate-grown, single-vineyard wines. A UC Davis fermentation science graduate raised in Sonoma County, she was instrumental in launching the Napa Wine Company custom-crush facility as Director of Winemaking in the early 1990s and assisted on ultra-premium projects including Bryant Family and Colgin before serving more than a decade as winemaker and director of winegrowing at Pahlmeyer. She first worked a Martinelli vintage in 2009 and stepped into the consulting role after Helen Turley's retirement. A self-described perfectionist, she ferments small lots in individual tanks with native yeast and ages each separately — a meticulous, site-driven approach suited to Martinelli's storied vineyards, including the famously steep Jackass Hill.
Lee Martinelli Sr. is the patriarch of a Sonoma farming family whose roots reach back to the 1880s, when his Tuscan grandparents Giuseppe and Luisa planted Zinfandel on a 60-degree slope they called Jackass Hill — “because only a jackass would farm a hill that steep.” Now in his eighties, Lee Sr. is still the sole farmer of that vineyard, the steepest non-terraced site in Sonoma County, working it out of devotion to the vines his father tended for 75 years. With his sons George and Lee Jr., he farms nineteen vineyard sites across the Russian River Valley, selling most of the fruit and keeping the best for the Martinelli label.
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Jackass Hill Zinfandel, Russian River Valley — The icon; dry-farmed, head-pruned fruit from 140-year-old vines on the steepest non-terraced vineyard in Sonoma County.
Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel — Grafted from the Jackass Hill budwood, bottled under the family's original 1880s label.
Blue Slide Ridge Pinot Noir — A prestige bottling from the family's extreme Sonoma Coast vineyard.
Estate Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Site-driven Chardonnay from the family's generations-old plantings.
Jackass Hill Muscat of Alexandria — A rare dessert-style white from 140-year-old vines interplanted in the historic Zinfandel block.
The Martinelli family's roots in the Russian River Valley reach back to 1887, when Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli emigrated from Tuscany, settled near the small town of Forestville, and planted their first vineyards on a steep, exposed hillside that came to be known as Jackass Hill — said to be named because only a jackass would farm a slope that steep. The 60-degree Zinfandel block is still in production today and is among the oldest continuously farmed vineyards in California. Across four generations the family expanded into ranching, hop-growing, and apple orchards before consolidating around wine grapes; the current generation farms more than 470 acres across Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Bennett Valley.
The Martinelli winery as it exists today was founded in 1987 by Lee Sr. and Carolyn Martinelli, who began making wine under their own label after decades of selling grapes to other producers. Helen Turley joined as consulting winemaker in 1993 and shaped the house style — small lots, native fermentation, generous oak — over fifteen formative years; Erin Green is the current winemaker. The lineup spans single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, and a legendary array of Zinfandels from the Jackass Hill, Jackass Vineyard, and Giuseppe & Luisa blocks. The tasting room on River Road in Windsor occupies a converted 1918 hop barn, with visits by reservation for seated flights focused on current releases and library selections.
Erin Green has been Martinelli's consulting winemaker since 2010, working alongside winemaker Courtney Wagoner to craft the family's estate-grown, single-vineyard wines. A UC Davis fermentation science graduate raised in Sonoma County, she was instrumental in launching the Napa Wine Company custom-crush facility as Director of Winemaking in the early 1990s and assisted on ultra-premium projects including Bryant Family and Colgin before serving more than a decade as winemaker and director of winegrowing at Pahlmeyer. She first worked a Martinelli vintage in 2009 and stepped into the consulting role after Helen Turley's retirement. A self-described perfectionist, she ferments small lots in individual tanks with native yeast and ages each separately — a meticulous, site-driven approach suited to Martinelli's storied vineyards, including the famously steep Jackass Hill.
Lee Martinelli Sr. is the patriarch of a Sonoma farming family whose roots reach back to the 1880s, when his Tuscan grandparents Giuseppe and Luisa planted Zinfandel on a 60-degree slope they called Jackass Hill — “because only a jackass would farm a hill that steep.” Now in his eighties, Lee Sr. is still the sole farmer of that vineyard, the steepest non-terraced site in Sonoma County, working it out of devotion to the vines his father tended for 75 years. With his sons George and Lee Jr., he farms nineteen vineyard sites across the Russian River Valley, selling most of the fruit and keeping the best for the Martinelli label.
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