Martinelli Winery sits on River Road in Windsor, at the heart of the Russian River Valley wine country the family has farmed since the 1880s. The story begins with Giuseppe Martinelli and his bride Luisa Vellutini, who eloped from Tuscany and sailed to California in the late nineteenth century, eventually planting Zinfandel on a hillside so steep that mules could not navigate it — a site the family named Jackass Hill. That original vineyard still produces fruit. Over five generations, the Martinelli family has built an estate of 475 acres across the Russian River Valley and Fort Ross-Seaview, farming Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel while maintaining the family ownership that has defined them from the beginning.

Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli: from Tuscany to Sonoma County

Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini were not supposed to leave Italy together. They eloped, catching a ship to America rather than waiting for a marriage that local tradition made complicated. They arrived in Sonoma County in the 1880s and began farming, eventually planting Zinfandel on a hillside on the outskirts of what is now Windsor. The pitch of that hillside made conventional farming impossible — their mules refused to work it — so Giuseppe and Luisa farmed it themselves, on hands and knees, a commitment to the site that set the tone for every generation that followed.

That vineyard, called Jackass Hill, is still in production. The old vines that trace back to the original planting yield small amounts of intensely concentrated Zinfandel each year, a direct connection to the family’s origin that sits at the center of the Martinelli identity and gives the winery one of its most storied single-vineyard bottlings.

Five generations of estate farming in the Russian River Valley, from a Tuscan elopement to 475 acres of some of Sonoma’s most distinctive vineyards.

Lee Martinelli Sr. and the transition to estate winemaking

The winery as it exists today is largely the creation of Lee Martinelli Sr., who expanded the estate and shifted the family from grape growing into winemaking, bringing sons Lee Jr. and George into the operation. What had been a farming operation became a label, and the reputation built on Jackass Hill Zinfandel expanded to include the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that the Russian River Valley is now globally known for.

The 475 acres the family now farms extend from the River Road property into the cooler reaches of the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA on the Sonoma Coast, giving Martinelli access to two distinct growing environments. The Russian River Valley sites produce the richly textured Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that defined the appellation’s reputation through the 1990s and 2000s. The Fort Ross-Seaview sites, where the Pacific influence is stronger and the temperatures cooler, contribute the kind of bracing acidity and structural tension that has come to define the outer Sonoma Coast.

What the Russian River Valley produces, and why Martinelli matters

The Russian River Valley gained its formal AVA designation in 1983, but the character of its wines was understood long before. Fog from the Pacific pours through the Petaluma Gap and the river corridor each morning, dropping temperatures that would otherwise make Sonoma County too warm for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. By afternoon the fog burns off and the vines get the warmth they need to ripen completely, but the cold mornings keep natural acidity high and slow the process enough to develop aromatic complexity.

Martin Martinelli has farmed this territory longer than almost anyone. The old vines on Jackass Hill and the mature estate blocks along River Road have root systems that go deep into the volcanic and Goldridge sandy loam soils that distinguish Russian River Valley from its neighbors. Those soils drain quickly after rain, forcing roots downward in search of water and picking up mineral character along the way. That’s why Martinelli wines — particularly the Chardonnay and the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs — carry an earthy, textured quality that goes beyond simple fruit expression.

Pairing Martinelli wines with food

The wines Martinelli produces across its lineup reflect the same range of structural profiles that makes Russian River Valley wines so food-friendly. Chardonnay from the estate can go two directions depending on the vintage and site: richer, more textured examples with some oak influence pair well with seafood in butter or cream, roasted chicken, and hard cheeses where fat is the dominant element; leaner, more mineral-driven expressions from cooler sites pair better with raw shellfish, white fish, and fresh goat cheese where acidity matters more than texture.

The acidity in Pinot Noir is the key to its food-pairing range. Acid in wine cuts surface fat on the palate, allowing flavors to register more clearly in successive bites — which is why Pinot Noir moves so easily from salmon and duck to mushroom risotto, pork tenderloin, and aged Gruyere. The old-vine Zinfandel from Jackass Hill is a different pairing entirely: the concentration and spice call for equally bold preparations — braised lamb, smoked meats, aged hard cheeses — where the wine can meet the food at full intensity rather than overwhelm it.

Martinelli Winery: common questions