2006-06-02
by Richard Paul Hinkle
Since the winery was purchased by Gallo three years ago, the folks at Martini have refocused and redoubled their efforts to making great Cabernets Sauvignon. It’s a worthy goal, since California’s north coast bears such a striking resemblance to the Bordeaux region of France and, as a result, the climate – particularly on benchland and hillside slopes – is particularly amenable to this late-ripening black grape variety.
Try on the 2003 Sonoma County Cabernet ($17) for size. This one is a charmingly fluid imp of wine, silky with peppermint, pomegranate and cassis fruit, with a coffee accent the that serves only to heighten the base fruits and push them further out in the foreground. It’s a nice take on the Cabernet, one that would serve well with a broad range of foodstuffs. You might start with a Salisbury steak, but feel free to venture weill beyond that jumping-off point. Here is where your imagination will be well-rewarded. (The particular good news with this wine is that nearly 140,000 cases were made, so there’s enough to go around. And that is good news in times of “limited release” and “selected lot” wines that wine writers love to go bonkers over … and there isn’t enough to sate this county, much a less a nation-wide demand.)
The 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($254) – and there are some 30,000 cases of this one floating about – is another beauty, fluid and fleshy with cassis, violets, black currant and an iodine tang, framed by the graham of fine French oak. The Beef Wellington, I am thinking, or at least a nice barbecued flank steak, heavy on the teriyaki sauce. This is a wine that will enfold either of those dishes comfortably. “We used a larger-than-ordinary amount of whole berries when we fermented this wine,” notes Air Force vet and long-time winemaker Michael Martini, who spends his spare time riding his Harley and playing guitar in the noted winemaker rock band “Private Reserve.” “Whole berry fermentations, conducted at a lower-than-normal temperature – we’re talking seventy-five to eighty-five degrees – allow us to better retain the grape’s varietal essence and minimize bitter tannin extraction.”
There isn’t nearly as much of the 2001 Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet ($35), nor could there be, because this is a special bottling that you might want to go out of your way to dredge up. The utter softness and fineness of Alexander Valley Cabernet is on full display with this lovely, which features feather-soft violets and mocha chocolate in a way that is enticing-bordering-on-sexy. The oak is that fine-tuned graham-like quality. There is a bit of chewiness from the tannins, but the whole of the wine is so fluid and so silky that you might not even notice them. Filet mignon, and don’t stint the mushrooms. As that old airline used to boast, “The only way to fly!”
One of the great things about writing for Wine County This Week is the opportunity to alert readers to special “tasting-room-only” wines that are available to Wine Country travelers. At Martini’s cozy tasting room you’re going to want to keep an eye peeled for this pair of “limited release” wines. The Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2004 ($22) is a bright cherry-black-peppered beauty of a picnic wine that you’ll want to chill just a little to accompany your pastrami sandwich and potato salad. (Tasting note: As this is a fairly dry rosé, you’ll not want to over-chill this delicate beauty. Just a few minutes in the ice bucket; any more, and you’re likely to lose all of that pretty fruitiness.)
Then there’s the Los Niños Sonoma Valley Red 2001 ($60), a Bordeaux blend from the Monte Rosso Vineyard that features dense, ripe plum and pomegranate fruit that is rich and rustic, with a little dusty tannin there to really set off the fruit and make it stand out. Though lots more than a picnic wine, this one would also do very nicely indeed with the roast beef sandwich or the cold pasta salad. (The label is, in itself, a story. Since 1979, the Los Niños cuvées have been created to honor the birth of a Martini child. The drawing for this label was executed by Avery Visola, the granddaughter of Joe Visola, the noted wine label designer.)
Lest I forget – and I would not, trust me – there is Michael’s famous Gnarly Vine Zinfandel from the family’s historic Monte Rosso Vineyard, high up on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Range. The 2003 Gnarly Vine Zin ($40) is absolutely zingy with ripe raspberry, iodine, menthol and peppermint fruit that is the very essence of ripe, mountain-grown Zinfandel. This is your basic “fireside” wine: for the pasta, for the pizza, for the sharp (and I mean “sharp”) cheddar cheese.
The Louis M. Martini Winery is located at 254 South St. Helena Highway on the south side of the town of St. Helena. Their charmingly well-stocked tasting room is open daily 10-6. The local phone is (707) 968-3361, or toll-free 1-800-321-9463 (WINE). Their web address is louismartini.com.
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