The 2008 Zinfandel was picked very ripe, but still within the range of balance. Ripe flavors were achieved with high sugars and a heady, full bodied resulting wine. The aromas are bright red and black berries with pepper and spice. The moutfeel is very lush with palate coating blackberry flavors, spice, and slight hints of toasty oak. Leaning more towards our Angeli Cuvee style, this wine should age quite well for up to 10 years due to its depth and structure.

Grape Source: Alexander Valley, (Sonoma County)
Color: Dark Ruby
Oak aging: 16 months French Oak
Aging potential: 5-10 years

Appellation:

Angeli Cuvee is a proprietary blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Carignane that we’ve been making since the first vintages that we had fruit from our Alexander Valley ranch and home. The wine is named for the family who  previously owned our ranch for 104 years.
Increased quantities of Petite Sirah have boosted the density and kept the aromas and flavors tightly wound on the 2006 release. Below the surface, the potential is evident which will evolve to show layers of blackberry, dark chocolate, and rich spice. This wine flirts with the edges of ripeness and full bodied flavors yielding a bursting mouthfeel of rich, ripe blackberries with a dallop of toasty oak while retaining great structure and balance.

Grape Source: Alexander Valley, (Sonoma County)
Color: Dark Ruby
Oak aging: 18 months, primarily French oak
Aging potential: up to 15 years

Appellation:

This is a big wine. The aromas are still tight, yet they show broad hints of complexity including ripe cherry, cassis, graphite, and a pleasant herbal and earthy component. The palate is very full and structured, and well integrated oak carries the wine to a long finish. Our goal is to make lush and rich yet very classic Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 seems to have achieved this in stride. While hard to resist drinking now, the thick but moderate fruit tannin promise a very easy 10 years of aging potential.

Grape Source: Alexander Valley, (Sonoma County)
Color: Dark Ruby
Oak Aging: 16 months French Oak
Aging Potential: 5-10 years

Grape Source: Primarily Sonoma and Mendocino Counties
Color: Dark Ruby Purple
Aging Potential: Best within 1-3 years

Due to the continued high demand of Old Vine Red across the country and in order to maintain as consistent a supply as possible, we will no longer be selling Old Vine Red on our website. We would like to stress how much we appreciate the support we’ve had on Old Vine Red and we have made this decision in an effort to keep as many markets, and consequently people, in stock as possible. To insure that you will be well supplied by your local retailers, please let us know if you have any trouble at all finding Old Vine Red in your area and we will immediately find you a local outlet or maintain your supply.

Appellation:

The 2006 Petite Sirah is 100% Alexander Valley appellation and 100% estate grown. In addition to the 76% Petite Sirah, this blend is comprised of 22% Syrah and 2% Viognier.

Almost opaque in color, the 2006 Petite Sirah exhibits a broad, rich nose of blueberries, sweet toasty oak, and mineral notes. It is abundantly lush, mouth-filling, and weighty on the palate. Typical of the vintage, it exhibits broad, fruit-forward flavors with pleasing fruit tannins. This wine begs for rich grilled or barbeque pork or beef.

Grape Source: Alexander Valley (Sonoma County)
Color: Dark Ruby
Oak Aging: 12 months French Oak
Aging Potential: 5-8 years

Marietta Cellars is located just outside the little town of Geyserville in one of California’s premier wine growing regions, Sonoma County. Owner and winemaker Chris Bilbro initially founded Marietta Cellars in 1978 in a rented cow barn in the Dry Creek Valley. The winery is named after Chris’ great aunt.  Marietta was a tough Italian immigrant who was known for always having a stock pot on the stove, a bountiful garden, and a plentiful table. Not having any children of her own, she took Chris under her wing and taught him how to cook by hand and taste which is a direct correlation to Chris’ winemaking style.

Since his first release in 1978, Chris’s greatest accomplishment and passion has been his four sons. His second greatest accomplishment has been his ability to produce a product of incredible consistency both in quality and price with relatively complete anonymity.

The wines of Marietta Cellars are a personification of Chris Bilbro, his outlook on life, and his general lifestyle. No wine is complete on its own; pleasurable pursuits such as cooking, fishing, hunting, gardening, and entertaining add balance to wine, as they do to life.

To this day, no wine gets bottled without Chris’s approval and no vineyard row goes more than a week without Chris riding his ATV through it.

Handling the majority of the day to day operations are Chris’s three eldest sons, Jake, Scot, and Sam. Brothers by blood and best friends by choice, Jake, Scot, and Sam are all dedicated to the dream that Chris started in 1978.