Zinfandel Giuseppe & Luisa
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Barbecued pork ribs, grilled lamb chops, aged cheddar cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
The Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel is a deeply personal tribute to the founders of the Martinelli estate, Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini, who eloped from Tuscany in the late 19th century to establish a new life in the rugged terrain of Sonoma County. Planted by their grandson, Lee Martinelli Sr., this vineyard was established using heritage budwood from the family's historic Jackass Hill vineyard, ensuring a direct genetic link to the vines planted by Giuseppe and Luisa themselves. Situated in the Russian River Valley, the site benefits from warm days and cool, foggy nights, allowing the grapes to achieve optimal ripeness while retaining essential acidity. The wine is crafted using traditional, minimalist techniques, including fermentation with native yeasts and bottling unfined and unfiltered. The resulting Zinfandel is famously opulent, robust, and complex, showcasing intense dark fruit, warm baking spices, and a luxurious, velvety texture that reflects the family's multi-generational devotion to the land.
🍾 About the Producer
Martinelli Winery represents one of the most storied multi-generational viticultural legacies in Sonoma County, dating back to 1887 when Tuscan immigrants Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini first planted vines in the Russian River Valley. The estate's crown jewel remains the famed Jackass Hill—a perilous, non-terraced 60-degree slope planted to historic heritage Zinfandel and Muscat of Alexandria. Across more than 450 acres spanning Russian River Valley and Fort Ross-Seaview, the Martinellis cultivate cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as heritage Zinfandel and Syrah, across Goldridge sandy loam and marine gravel soils influenced by dense Pacific coastal fog. Winemaking emphasizes site fidelity through ambient yeast fermentations, meticulous French oak élevage, and minimal intervention, bottling without fining or filtration. Benchmark bottlings such as Jackass Hill Zinfandel, Three Sisters Chardonnay, and Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir capture rich concentration, vibrant acidity, and profound structural depth.
🍇 Grapes
Zinfandel
🍷 ABV
15-16.5%