2020 Chardonnay Martinelli Road 750 ml
Appellation
Russian River
- Beautiful aromas of fresh pineapple, white flowers and barrel spice fill your nose. Concentrated upon entry, this sensation continues through the mid palate with flavors of ripe pineapple and lime zest. Juicy tropical fruits are present in the long fresh finish.
Wine Specs
Vintage
2020
Varietal
Chardonnay
Appellation
Russian River
Alcohol %
15.1
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Beautiful aromas of fresh pineapple, white flowers and barrel spice fill your nose. Thick upon entry this sensation continues in the mid palate with flavors of ripe pineapple and lime zest. Juicy tropical fruits are present in the long fresh finish.
Vineyard Notes
The Martinelli Road Chardonnay Vineyard is one of our coolest vineyard sites in the Russian River Valley and is consistently one of the last vineyards to be picked. Lee Martinelli Sr. planted this vineyard in 1989 using clone 95. The vineyard is located directly below the steep Jackass Hill Zinfandel vineyard on the original Martinelli family homestead ranch.
Production Notes
2020 will likely go down as one of the most memorable harvests in Martinelli history. The growing season was nearly perfect until mid-August when two nearby wildfires were ignited by a dry lightning storm. At this point in the berries’ growth cycle, the skins are softening and developing favors. Because we religiously prioritize the quality of our wines and the integrity of our brand, we made the hard but crucial decision to not make any Pinot Noir from the 2020 vintage. Unlike the other varieties that we grow, Pinot Noir is susceptible to absorbing flavors from its surroundings because it is exceptionally thin skinned. Therefore, we are able to pick up terroir flavor nuances even within the same AVA in this grape. Luckily, we have Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Syrah from the 2020 vintage. Chardonnay is removed from its skins as soon as it enters the winery, so contact with any smoke flavors is extremely minimal. Zinfandel and Syrah both have very tough skins and did not absorb the smoke flavors we tasted in the Pinots. Though we were only able to process half the amount of fruit we do in a normal year, we are grateful for the outstanding wines we were able to make from the 2020 harvest.