Martinelli Pinots

[RAD]

I found, somewhat surprisingly, that there are very few posts on Martinelli here (I did a search and found 5).

I have fairly recently become a very big fan of this winery. While many have panned Turley (their winemaker) for making overalcoholed, overextracted fruit bombs, I very recently have had 3 of their pinots that, while having a very high alcohol content, had equally high levels of fruit and acid, and went wonderfully with food.

The ones I've had of late: 1999 Blue Slide Ridge pinot (RP 91), 1999 Reserve pinot (RP 93), and the 2000 Three Colts Vineyard pinot.

I had the Blue Slide at La Toque in Napa. It was 15.1% (!) alcohol, but not the least bit hot, and went perfectly with grilled salmon. The Three Colts I had here in NYC at Veritas, and was ~15% as well; it went wonderfully with a roasted monkfish in a red-wine reduction sauce. The 99 Reserve I tasted at the winery (sans food), but backed up the truck nevertheless.

I don't claim to be a pinot expert by any stretch--though they are my favorite varietal of late--but IMHO, these three are in perfect balance, despite their high alcohol content.

I guess my point here is that I don't think high-alcohol wines should be summarily dismissed as being out of balance simply due to their high alcohol. While many are (I too have had numerous "hot" wines that I didn't care for), I found these three to be wonderful.

RAD