1997 Chardonnay Martinelli Road

A longer-term partnership between Helen Turley and husband John Wetlaufer and the Martinelli family should significantly increase the amount of superb Sonoma Coast chardonnay and pinot noir available on the market beginning with the 1998 vintage. At the Martinellis' Blue Slide Ridge and Three Sisters vineyards, located on either side of Marcassin Vineyard not far from the Pacific, Turley and Wetlaufer were able to select rootstocks, clones and vine density and direct viticultural practices. The chardonnay and pinot noir fruit will be split roughly 50/50 between Turley and Wetlaufer and Martinelli, with the Turley/Wetlaufer portion bottled under the Marcassin label and the Martinelli fruit also vinified by consulting winemaker Turley. The current Martinelli wines likewise are made by Turley, and the top '97 chardonnay and pinot noir struck me as the finest wines to date from this producer. (The '97 chardonnays were bottled unfiltered for the first time.) For those consumers unable to latch onto wines released under the Marcassin label, don't miss out on the '97 Martinelli offerings.