1993 Martinelli Zinfandel Jackass Vineyard

The 1993 Zinfandel Jackass Vineyard displays an opaque ruby/purple color, a huge, dramatic, fragrant nose of Asian spices, black and red fruits, minerals, and oak. It possesses great richness, full body, a velvety-textured, rich, inner-core of fruit, and a long, heady finish that lasts more than a minute. Not a light, innocuous Zinfandel (the alcohol is 15.3%), it is dry, pure, and amazingly well-balanced. Drink it over the next 8-10 years. The up and coming Martinelli Vineyards is a name to follow. Their two 1993 Zinfandels, of which there are 400 cases of the Jackass Vineyard and 375 cases of the Jackass Hill, are sensational wines by any standard of measurement. Both wines were bottled unfined and unfiltered. This plot of vines was planted by the current owner's grandfather, Giuseppe Martinelli, and named Jackass Hill by his family because "only a jackass would plant vines on such an impossibly steep 45 degree slope." Much of this wine is sold via a private mailing list (an increasing trend among small, high quality wineries), so interested readers should call the winery and ask to be put on their mailing list. As a postscript, I should point out that as exceptional as the 1993 Zinfandels are, the 1994 Martinelli Zinfandels look to be even better - if you can believe that! Tel. (707) 525-0570