Marietta Cellars Christo Lot 3
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Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are approximately 12,000 cases of the NV Christo Lot 3, which is a hedonistic blend of Grenache, Syrah, Petite Sirah and a touch of Viognier to uplift the aromatics. This is, again, aged in neutral oak for two years and a blend of three vintages: 2011, 2012 and 2013. This is my favorite of all of these wines – a wine of exceptional purity and intensity and plenty of character, as this one is 70% Syrah and the rest the other three grapes. It tips the scales at a lofty 15.3% alcohol, but it’s well hidden behind a cascade of blackberry and cassis fruit, roasted meats, steak tartare, licorice and Provençal herbs. It’s a big boy, and that’s exactly the way they want it. This wine should drink well for 7-8 years, but it’s meant to be consumed in its exuberant youthfulness.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark, dense, rich and spicy, this Rhone-style blend is impressively delicious. Full bodied, it's saturated with blackberry, cinnamon and black-pepper flavors supported by fine-grained tannins. While it packs a punch, it is well balanced for a big, assertive wine, and will be best after 2019.
Editors' Choice.
Starting with only a handful of purchased grapes in 1978, Marietta Cellars has been a standout winery in Sonoma and Mendocino since the very beginning. Founded by Chris Bilbro, a Sonoma County native with winemaking roots dating back three generations, Marietta rose to prominence with its revolutionary Old Vine Red, a California red blend that essentially created the category. The winery has slowly expanded its estate holdings over the past thirty years, evolving into a beacon for high quality, balanced Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Rhône variety blends. Now fully estate-based and organically farmed, Marietta has vineyards spanning 310 acres in the Alexander Valley, McDowell Valley, and Yorkville Highlands. Notable among their heritage plantings are California’s oldest Syrah blocks, planted in the late 1800s.
Scot Bilbro, Chris’s son, has brought Marietta into its next, incredibly exciting phase. After graduating from UC Davis with a degree in Viticulture and Enology in 2007, Scot joined the winery full-time, assuming the role of winemaker in 2012. Steeped in the history of the California wine country and the traditions established by his father, Scot combines his creativity and technical background in guiding the winery’s vision of viticulture and winemaking. Today, the fusion of traditional values and style with modern precision have culminated in the most highly regarded wines of Marietta’s four decade history.