Today’s wine is one of the last that was made under the supervision of “America’s Greatest Winemaker” (WS), Helen Turley. This Martinelli Winery 2008 Hop Camp “Gravel Lens” Syrah is a bold, rich and elegant wine that will impress and delight with its beauty, balance and charm.

For those of you that don’t know Helen, she makes some of the most exclusive, most sought-after, most award-winning - and most expensive wines in California. Helen has supervised wine production for Colgin, Peter Michael Winery, B. R. Cohn, Kapcsándy Family Winery, Blankiet Estate, Pahlmeyer Winery, Landmark Winery, and Bryant Family. Recently Wine Spectator Magazine named her “America’s Greatest Winemaker.”

Today’s Martinelli Winery 2008 Hop Camp “Gravel Lens” Syrah is a stunner. We adored the last Turley-made Martinelli Syrah that we featured and we should point out that this wine is every bit as excellent. If you purchased their 2009 Hop Camp Vineyard “Gravel Lens” Syrah when we featured it last month, you would be well advised to taste it alongside today’s impressive offering.

This darkly rich wine has a wondrous nose, with rich, dense and bold aromas of smoky grilled plum, wild blackberry, smoked meats, wild mushroom, black currant, blackberry cordial, pencil shavings, cedar and soft spice.

Dense and layered on the palate, with flavors of smoky plum, grilled cherry, European black licorice, black currant, smoked meats, cedar, graphite, dried mushroom, dusty blackberry, spice and cracked pepper.

Our last Martinelli Syrah offer sold out in 16 hours. Today’s very highly recommended is going fast, too, so please visit with us soon.

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“The 2008 Martinelli Syrah Hop Camp Vineyard “Gravel Lens” (Gravel lens refers to the rare soil characteristic of alluvial soil layers interleaved with layers of gravel) is a big, beautifully fruited Syrah that possess touches of northern Rhone-like qualities mainly on the nose. Blackberry, cracked pepper, mineral, and hints of chocolate all emerge, and this fleshes out over the evening and gains floral and violet characteristics, as well as notable complexity and a layered profile.

This full-bodied, beautifully textured Syrah has an overall seamless feel, solid acidity, and a clean finish. It benefits from a decant, and should age gracefully for upwards of a decade.” - 92 points - Jeb Dunnuck, The Rhone Report