This is a story about Greg Martellotto, who loves to make wine. In fact, he was genetically encoded to make wine. Greg’s roots hail from a small town in Italy, where his family were wine makers, and then they immigrated to the United States. Greg’s Mother and Father eventually settled down in Dallas and Greg was slated to become a doctor. After studying at Stanford pre-med, Greg spent some time traveling, and then had his epiphany, wine ran through his veins and he wanted to make outstanding wine for the world to enjoy.

Enterprising and motivated, Greg started as a wholesaler and distributor, but his passion was with the chemical process and the fine nuances of blending the grapes. He became an apprentice to several wine makers. Running errands and doing scut work while he learned. He learned how to ferment, blend and barrel. And, then Martellotto Wines was born.

Martellotto contracts the grapes from several growers and contracts various facilities to make his wine. He works in small batches, sometimes only 200 cases per wine, and controls every aspect of the wine. He is known for his varietals and the innovative way that he blends all of those grapes to make the perfect glass of wine. He believes in taking the natural flavors of the grapes and enhancing them subtly and with a light hand. Has he made batches that have not worked? Absolutely. Has that deterred his interest or his drive? Not at all.

What makes his outfit unique, is that he is also his own distributor. OneVine Wines, is the company he started to distribute not only his own wines, but several others. OneVine is a collaborative network of small estate vineyards who are growers, managers, farmers, winemakers and marketers who care about the sustainable vines and fine wines. They are committed to stewardship of the land and the production of high quality and value wines. OneVine Wines goal is to provide the right wines to the right clients at the right time. As servers to the service industry, their own standards are to exceed the buyers expectations. A small distributing business that showcases small wines, One Vine Wines deliver a vineyard first focus with superior service to discriminating clientele.

But Martellotto’s innovativeness does not end there. He started a wine label called Agent for Change. This is one of Martellotto’s best sellers and truly one that is close to his heart. Agent for Change Wines, or A4C, is a portfolio of wines produced to create awareness and raise funds for worthy causes. By drinking charitably, A4C donates 50% of it’s profits to charity. The first release in 2008 was 800 cases, and currently, A4C is putting out 10,000 cases a year. Agent for Change produces a Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and a Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend and they can be purchased online at BigHammerWines.com, a California-based online retailer.

When Greg is not blending his own wines, he enjoys drinking Italian wines, doing yoga and traveling. Keep an eye out for his new labels, designed by Professor John Langdon, aka, Dr. Robert Langdon of The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

“Treat the grapes with integrity, authenticity and honesty. No matter what you do, do it with integrity, enjoy it and do it from the heart.”

To find out more about Greg Martellotto, visit www.martellotto.com/. You can find Martellotto Wines online at Big Hammer Wines

Road Trips for Wine would like to thank Greg Martellotto for speaking with me for Tales from the Vine. If you would like to be featured on Tales from the Vine, contact me at editor@roadtripsforwine.com.