Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A sad note is that the 2003 Pinot Noir Reserve's vineyard, planted in 1975, was finally uprooted and the land sold for a new housing development. The 2003 offers notes of raspberry fruit intermixed with cherries, apple skin, pomegranate, and smoky oak. This full-bodied, concentrated wine has loads of acidity, but also intense richness, making it one of the most concentrated Reserves the Martinellis have produced. It is no shy wine, topping the scales at 15% alcohol, but it is amazing stuff with explosive aromatics.
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Wine Spectator
Fleshy, ripe and concentrated, with layers of plum, black cherry and raspberry fruit that's well-centered and deftly balanced. The long, rich, persistent finish keeps the fruit at the forefront.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.