Martinelli Pinot Noir Blue Slide Ridge 2002

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Starting at: $159^.99

8 Reviews

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Winery:

Martinelli Winery

Varietal:

Pinot Noir

Region:

USA > California > Sonoma County > Sonoma Coast

Type:

Red Wine

Color:

Drink Dates:

Drink Now - 2015

UPC:

 

User Tags:  stone fruits, color descriptors, spices, berry, cherry, (tree) fruit, spice, oak, resinous, plum 

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What to Expect

California has long struggled with Pinot Noir. Finding the right vineyards for this most fickle of grape, one that enjoys a cool growing season yet needs warmth close to harvest to fully ripen, has proven a challenge in such a sunny state. Cooler areas eventually became identified; the Santa Rita Hills, Russian River Valley and Mendocino's Anderson valley are all prime spots for Pinot Noir in California. Unlike the lighter colored and sometimes delicate Pinots of Burgundy, California produces many rich, deep Pinots full of slightly chewy dark berry and cherry fruits with hints of cola, Asian spices and forest floor frequently adding complexity.

Winemakers Notes

Since 1896, five generations of the Martinelli family have worked together producing apples and wine in Sonoma County. We invite you to stop by the Martinelli Vineyards Tasting room in our historic Hop Barn. Available for sampling are our award winning estate wines as well as many local gourmet food products.

Blue Slide Ridge is named for its magnificent formations of blue rock. Directly below the vineyard a sheer cliff drops into the small winding creek, the south fork tributary of the Gualala River, showing off great cerulean shards jutting out from beneath the earth's read more...surface. This vineyard site was nearly named "Rattle Snake Ridge" due to the large population of rattlers that populate the cool hollows beneath the great blue rocks. In 1995 my parents, Lee and Carolyn Martinelli, planted this 6 acre vineyard of Pinot Noir on a steep slope which was once prime grazing land for sheep. This small vineyard was planted to the specifications of our winemaker, Helen Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer. The vines are on a vertically trained trellis system with the fruit hanging between 24 and 28 inches above the ground. To aid in early ripening we have adopted this old European practice of utilizing the sun's heat reflected from the ground. This style of lower trellising is more labor intensive to farm but the benefits out way the expense. The vineyard consists of 2,000 vines per acre which are spaced meter by 2 meters apart. Each vine yields about 3 pounds of fruit compared to the earlier standard plantings, 10x12 feet apart, which may yield a heavy crop of 20 to 30 pounds. The denser spacing creates more intense flavor in the grapes because each individual vine is asked to focus more attention onto a fewer number of grape clusters. This vineyard is truly a „coastal¾ vineyard, being located on the second ridge inland from the Pacific coastline.

After picking, the grape clusters are de-stemmed and the whole berries undergo a long cool fermentation, with indigenous yeast, to generate skin contact and extract fruit character. The juice is gravity fed into small oak barrels with a touch of residual sugar remaining to complete the fermentation process in barrel until dry. It is then allowed to rest and mature in 75% new French oak on its gross lees for 10 months without interruption. The grapes, juice, and then wine are minimally handled.

Dark red. Vinous aromas of black fruits, strawberry, tobacco and milk chocolate. Sappy, sweet and thick, with dense flavors of red berries, wild plum and smoke. A suave, seamless wine with the airy texture that characterizes Helen Turley's winemaking. A superb California pinot noir.    (hide)

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