Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Rich, fleshy, full-bodied and expansive, with a mix of savory berry, herb, tea, tobacco and earth. Well-focused and well-proportioned, ending with a long, persistent finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The only Pinot Noir I tasted was the dark ruby-hued, medium to full-bodied 2007 Pinot Noir Bondi Home Ranch, which exhibits notes of soy, lavender, sweet and sour cherries, spice box, forest floor, and pomegranate. This impressive Pinot should drink well for 5-7 years. A limited number of wines were presented to me for tasting at Martinelli. Sadly, Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer have departed as consultants to concentrate on their own vineyard. Nevertheless, Martinelli should be in good hands.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Situated on the foggier and colder western edge of the Russian River Valley, almost abutting the Sonoma Coast appellation, Green Valley is one of California’s most reputable Chardonnay and Pinot noir producing regions. It is also a wonderful source of sparkling wines made from these varieties.
Goldridge soils abound throughout the Green Valley appellation. This fine, dark, sandy loam and fractured sandstone is derived from the remains of ancient inland seabeds dating back three to five million years. It is valuable for high quality grape growing because of its excellent drainage and low fertility.