TN: 2001 Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley CA.

2001 Martinelli Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley California. Alcohol 15.6%. Deep red color, deep hue, beautiful dark cherry and wild strawberry nose, light spice and a bit of earth, intense pure fruit tastes with light acidity and just a bit of oak, mild, well integrated tannis, excellent balance, incredibly long finish with strong fruit, spice and earthen notes -- Janet: "I could taste this wine even after we left the restaurant and walked back to the car. Just delicious." 5*.

Janet, Robin and I tried the Brooklyn Pizza Restaurant in Ridgewood New Jersey -- the Grimaldi brothers from Hackensack and Edgewater -- I'm not sure what their relationship is with the famous Grimaldi's Brooklyn Pizza in Brooklyn New York. The pizza is really good and we had great fun deciding whether we preferred mine or theirs: them -- better sauce, simplier and lovely tomato flavor; mine -- better crust and mushrooms; tie -- cheeses. Since I can make a pizza in the time it takes to drive to Ridgewood, and I can see how to make my sauce as good as theirs -- Ross wins, three votes to none. :-) [Thanks to Robin Garr and Stuart in particular for great hints on how to make better pizza.]

Back to the wine [a little tough to type since I've sprained my left arm patting my back]. This is a big Pinot Noir, and although Janet loved it, I prefer a smaller, more delicate, more complex style. But, hey, it tasted great with the excellent cold antipasto, a mushroom pizza and cheese ravioli. We bought a case of this wine on a trip to Sonoma, so I'll have more opportunities to try it with a superior pizza. :-)

Regards, Bob

I'm drooling. I have never tasted a Martinelli Pinot Noir and missed my opportunity at the Martinelli wine dinner at Nana's in Durham last February when the Triangle Wine Experience dinner was sold out before I received my brochure. (However, I had a great dinner at Saint Jacques in Raleigh with some pleasurable French wines).

[Jenise]

Congratulations on winning the pizza contest.

Re the pinot, those Martinellis are something, aren't they? They're always impressive for their uniquely weird bravado (after all, how many pinots would you pair with pizza?), though like you I'm not a fan of that style.

Thanks, Jenise. We tried to be objective, and I'm pretty sure we succeeded, but I'd love to have a blind pizza tasting contest, mine against theirs, with some other consumers.

All three of us love very thin crust -- folks who like a thicker crust might well prefer theirs, although we all preferred the taste of my crust, as well as the mouth feel.

In any event, thanks.

I found most of the 2001 PN from Martinelli to be a little too hot. Usually they can carry the alcohol but these I think are just a little higher and I think it shows. I liked both the 2000 and the 1999 better.

If you want something with even more Bravado than the Martinelli PN see if you can find a bottle of the Syrah. Opened the 2001 last night and it is a monster. Over 16% but does not taste hot like the PN does. Extremely full body. Significant tannin still but with such ripe fruit it comes off as balanced. For those that think their PN taste more like Sryah not sure what you call this. Defintely not for everyone.