Recently, Jen and I were able to treat our friend Diane to a day of wine tasting in Woodinville. We took her to a nice lunch, then headed to our appointment at Martedi Winery.
We were honored to have Joseph Miglino, the winemaker, spend so much time with us talking about his wines and his traditional hands-off winemaking process.
Tuesday Cellars is their second label and I did a terrible job of taking notes about why they have a second label and what those wines are.
Our first pour was the Pinot Grigio – here is Jen enjoying her glass. Jen is Italian too, and was delighted to taste Italian style wines here in Washington.
Here’s Diane tasting the 2014 Sangiovese. I can’t overstate how impressed we were by these incredibly delicious wines. Ever since we did this tasting, Jen and I have been kicking ourselves for not buying more bottles while we were here, and for not exploring this winery sooner. We want to come back again soon to try more of their wines and to stock up our cellars with these astonishingly good wines.
Joe told us that he tastes everything in the room once per month. He tops off the Nebbiolo when needed. Nebbiolo is my new favorite wine to pair with food, and I was excited to hear they make one.
Joe explained that in America, we blend wine because we can; in Europe, they blended because they had to.
Joe mentioned that they make one barrel a year of Alianico, in honor of his grandfather who was from Campagna.
Next we tasted the 2014 Barbera, which was fantastic. I’ve tasted a couple other Barberas in Woodinville that my personal palate wasn’t quite ready for, but this one really impressed me.
Our next pour was the 2013 Cabernet Franc, which was also outstanding. Diane chose a bottle of this to take home with her.
We were also really impressed by the stunning 2014 Giovanni Syrah. The price point on these wines is unbelievably affordable, I have to mention. See for yourself on their website.
Martedi makes a dessert wine, using the Vin Santo technique. Vin Santo means “wine of the saints.” It’s a wine with character, not made sweet just to be sweet. It’s traditionally served with a biscuit that isn’t sweet, and with an espresso alongside.
Joe said it’s a leap of faith to make it and you pray every time you attempt it. He makes it every other year. He dries the grapes first. Martedi’s other dried grape wine is an amarone (if my notes are correct)
Joe gave us a tour of the equipment in the back room at the winery. He showed us his peristoltic pump, which he named Sophia, and talked a bit about the winemaking process. Joe mentioned that sparkling wine takes a whole other set of equipment, so he won’t be making one; but next year he’ll be making a fermented Semillon dessert wine.
Martedi’s tasting room is open until 7pm – later than most tasting rooms around here – on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On Sunday, they’re open until 5pm; they close on Mondays and Tuesdays.
We like the sense of humor around here!
The tasting room is dog friendly. Soon they plan to be serving food such as sopressata, cappicolo, cheeses and flatbreads.
I served Martedi Winery’s Pinot Grigio and Rosé (which is made from Sangiovese) at a summer party – my guests exclaimed about how much they enjoyed the wine.
Martedi is located at 16110 Redmond-Woodinville Rd NE #5, Woodinville, WA 98072.
-Carrie
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