Vellutini Ranch Syrah
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 5 to 15 years from the vintage release.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Roasted lamb chops, grilled ribeye steak, venison stew
✨ wine.spec_sheet
The Vellutini Ranch Syrah is a dramatic expression of cool-climate Russian River Valley Syrah, grown on a property contiguous to the historic Jackass Hill. Planted in 1999 on the steep, Goldridge sandy loam soils of the Vellutini Ranch—named in honor of Luisa Vellutini, who co-founded the estate with Giuseppe Martinelli in the late 19th century—this vineyard benefits from morning coastal fog and warm afternoon sun. The wine is crafted using traditional, minimalist techniques, including fermentation with wild yeasts in open-top oak vats and aging in French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered, it showcases the signature Martinelli style: remarkably bold, deeply concentrated, and intensely aromatic, balancing dark fruit, cracked black pepper, and savory smoked meat characteristics.
🍾 wine.about_producer
Established in 1887 by Tuscan immigrants Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini, Martinelli Winery is a historic, family-owned estate nestled in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California. Renowned for its deep agricultural heritage spanning over six generations, the winery is celebrated for farming some of the region's most steep and challenging terroirs, most notably the iconic, near-vertical Jackass Hill vineyard. Under the stewardship of the Martinelli family, the estate employs meticulous hand-farming, dry-farming techniques, and minimalist winemaking practices—such as utilizing native yeasts and bottling unfined and unfiltered—to craft wines of extraordinary concentration and character. Their signature portfolio highlights powerful, old-vine Zinfandels, alongside elegant, single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, and Syrahs that beautifully express the unique microclimates of Sonoma County.