History
The Charles family homesteaded the ranch in 1860, burning redwoods to open sheep pasture on what became the county's largest sheep ranch. George Charles planted Chardonnay around 1980 and 1981; his daughter Carolyn married into the Martinelli family, and the Martinellis planted Pinot Noir in 1995 and 1996, their first vines in what became Fort Ross-Seaview. The vineyard is named for Carolyn, Charlotte and Donna, the three sisters who inherited the ranch, with Carolyn's family its owner today; the three plastic chairs still stand under the trees. Marcassin drew Three Sisters fruit in the Turley era, and Benovia farms blocks alongside the Martinelli program now.
The Site
The vines sit around 1,100 feet on south and east aspects above the Fort Ross coast, on well-drained Josephine and Goldridge soils, part of roughly 55 Martinelli acres in the appellation with Blue Slide Ridge and Wild Thyme.
Vines and Blocks
Chardonnay from the 1980-era planting and Pinot Noir in Pommard, 115 and 777 on 101-14 and 3309.
The Wines
Martinelli's Three Sisters Chardonnay and Pinot Noir carry the ranch's name coastward: marine-cut, structured wines from the family's mother ranch on the Sonoma Coast.