Zinfandel Giuseppe & Luisa
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 3–10 years from the vintage release.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Barbecued pork ribs, grilled lamb chops, aged cheddar cheese
✨ wine.spec_sheet
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.
🍾 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.