About Martinelli Winery & Vineyards
Martinelli Winery & Vineyards represents one of the most remarkable family farming legacies in California wine. Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli emigrated from Friuli, Italy in the 1880s and planted the first vines, including a steep hillside plot so challenging that neighbors told them no grapes could grow there. They planted anyway. Those 'Jackass Hill' vines, now over 130 years old, produce some of the most concentrated and historically significant Zinfandel in California.
Six generations of the Martinelli family continue farming the same land. Lee Martinelli Sr. and his sons Lee Jr. and George farm over 470 planted acres across the Russian River Valley and Fort Ross-Seaview AVAs, selling the majority of their grapes to other prestigious wineries while keeping a small portion for their own highly regarded single-vineyard wines.
The tasting room sits inside a beautifully restored turn-of-the-century hop barn on River Road, the same agricultural infrastructure that once defined the Russian River Valley before wine. Native yeast fermentation, unfiltered and unfined wines, and a commitment to letting the vineyards speak without interference define every Martinelli bottle.
At its Windsor, Sonoma County location, Martinelli Winery & Vineyards presents a featured lineup that includes Jackass Hill Vineyard Zinfandel, Jackass Vineyard Zinfandel, Blue Slide Ridge Pinot Noir, and Vineyard Hill Chardonnay. Together, these bottles provide a focused introduction to the varieties, vineyard sources, and style that define the winery's current portfolio.
"Six generations of Martinelli family farming in Sonoma County since the 1880s. A historic hop barn tasting room, 470 acres of estate vineyards, and si"
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Russian River Valley SettingMartinelli sits in one of California's most celebrated cool-climate AVAs, known worldwide for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
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Fog-Influenced TerroirRussian River Valley vines benefit from the daily fog that pulls cool Pacific air inland through the Petaluma Gap.
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Sonoma Boutique FormatMost Russian River Valley wineries lean toward small-lot production and family-scale hospitality.
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Featured Wines
Zinfandel
Jackass Hill Vineyard Zinfandel
From the legendary steep hillside planted in the 1880s despite neighbors' skepticism. Ancient vines, extraordinary concentration, and one of California's most historically significant Zinfandel bottlings.
Zinfandel
Jackass Vineyard Zinfandel
The companion bottling from adjacent old vines, showing the subtle differences that neighboring blocks can produce even from the same ancient vineyard.
Pinot Noir
Blue Slide Ridge Pinot Noir
Estate RRV Pinot Noir, native yeast, unfiltered, and showing the extraordinary fruit quality that comes from 130+ years of family vineyard stewardship.
Chardonnay
Vineyard Hill Chardonnay
Single-vineyard estate Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley, showing the mineral precision that Goldridge sandy loam soils consistently deliver.
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Hop Barn Estate Tasting
$35
Taste in the beautifully restored century-old hop barn, a living piece of Russian River Valley agricultural history, alongside single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, Zinfandels, and Chardonnays.
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Jackass Hill Vertical
$65
A focused tasting of the legendary Jackass Hill Zinfandel across multiple vintages, seeing how 130-year-old vines develop over time in the bottle.
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