Consulting winemaker Helen Turley has teamed up with head winemaker Bryan Kvamme at Martinelli to produce a rich and fleshy Pinot from the Russian River Valley. Named for Lee Martinelli Sr.'s great-uncle, Zio Tony, this small vineyard with its rolling hills is trained on a vertical trellis system with the fruit hanging just 24 inches above the ground. The grapes are thinned down to only 3 pounds of fruit per vine. These practices all insure mature fruit flavors in the wine as well as even ripening, and produce low yields of exceptional Burgundian varieties.

Zio Tony was the first in the Bondi family to be born on American soil, the son of Paolo Antoni Bondi and Adele Gemma Cardellini, who emigrated from Italy in the late 1800's. In one year they saved enough money raising potatoes to purchase the apple ranch on which Tony was born and where he and his sister, Alma, were raised. Zio Tony, Zio meaning 'uncle' in Italian and pronounced 'tseo', was a very charismatic man with a big booming voice who loved a good time. His big handsome smile is still legendary in the old farming community of western Sonoma County. He was the entrepreneur of the family and began buying individual properties and planting apple trees, eventually establishing the largest apple orchard in the county. When Tony passed away in 1969 his nephew, Lee Martinelli, Sr., inherited the estate and set out to produce world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both of which are considered compatible with the Russian River climate.