2014 Krutz Family Cellars Martinelli Road Vineyard Chardonnay Green Valley of Russian River Valley 750 ml

There is so much history and pedigree packed into this Krutz Family Martinelli Road Vineyard Chardonnay, it’s hard to know where to begin. The story of its making is essential to understanding why it is a true California Grand Cru, and why Jeb Dunnuck called it a “compelling, undeniably delicious Chardonnay.” 

While its notes of Meyer lemon, mandarin blossom, and toasted hazelnut inspire awe, its price tag should inspire urgency. At 33% off, this Wine Access exclusive massively, MASSIVELY over-delivers, and it won’t last long.

Back in December we met the brotherly duo of Patrick and Cole Krutz at Cole’s favorite Napa haunt, Angèle. Over a heaping bowl of moules frites and a bottle of the 2014 Martinelli Road Chardonnay, Patrick told us about the day Lee Martinelli Sr.—one of the greatest vintners in California history—picked him up in his beat-up pickup truck to look at a few of his legendary Chardonnay vineyards. Their first stop was in Russian River Valley at River Road Vineyard. Next they went to Zio Tony Vineyard, which Martinelli bottles as a vineyard-designate for $50. After that was Woolsey Road, bottled by Chardonnay legend David Ramey for $75.

Every site was magnificent, but Patrick was looking for something more, something cooler, something singular. 

Finally, Lee Sr. drove Patrick to his home ranch, the 150-year-old Martinelli Road Vineyard in Green Valley—the coolest, southernmost part of the Russian River Valley. There, at the base of famed Jackass Hill, the vines (farmed by Lee Sr. since he was six years old), receive the first and the last of the fog from the Petaluma Gap, maintaining lower temperatures and yielding vibrant acidity in the grapes. The Goldridge soils too are perfect for Chardonnay, stressing the vines and reducing the total yield to just five coveted tons in 2014. 

Usually, the entire production of Martinelli Road Vineyard is reserved for Martinelli’s own vineyard designate—their 2014 bottling earned 96 points from Vinous and sells for upwards of $60—but that day Lee Sr. made an exception. Patrick had found exactly what he was looking for in arguably the coolest site in all of Russian River Valley, and wasted no time locking in a few tons of super-premium fruit. 

The high natural acidity and stony minerality present in that cool-climate Chardonnay lends itself to the winemaking techniques of top-notch Burgundy—malolactic fermentation, lees stirring, and aging in new French oak—a fact Patrick Krutz knew well when selecting this site. Brother Cole Krutz, winemaker at Krutz family, deftly applied this Burgundian approach to the pristine Martinelli Road fruit, yielding an ethereal and incredibly complex expression of one of the New World’s oldest and most prized vineyards. As Wine Advocate wrote, “it's fine and fresh in the mouth with great intensity and a long, mineral-laced finish.”

Many Wine Access members know and love Krutz Family Cellars already. Those who don’t will be instantly converted by this top-class bottling. You’d never pin a $30 price tag on this one if you tasted it blind, but that’s the magic of today, only on Wine Access.