Marietta Cellars

Christo Red Blend 2021

North Coast

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Named and styled after Chris Bilbro—affectionately called “Christo” by his great-aunt Marietta—this Rhône varietal blend is both gentle and powerful, deeply pleasurable yet raw and refined. A tribute from Scot Bilbro to his father and the founder of Marietta Cellars, it’s built around Syrah from the McDowell estate, with Petite Sirah from Angeli and Grenache from the Yorkville Highlands. The pig snout on the label nods to Chris’s wild boar sausage-making days, when he crisscrossed the country sharing his creations with chefs and wine lovers. Part of Marietta’s Family Series, this wine embodies the values that have shaped the winery for generations: family, hard work, passion, and a love for the creative spirit of winemaking.

VINEYARD

The Syrah comes from the McDowell Valley estate, situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, benefits from the cold sink that ensure cools nights and preserves acidity and freshness. The Petite Sirah comes from the Angeli Estate vineyard in Alexander Valley and the Grenache comes from the Yorkville Highlands estate at 1,400 ft in elevation on the mountain pass between the Anderson Valley and the Alexander Valley.

WINEMAKING

Syrah is co-fermented with a small % of Viognier for aromatic lift and blended with Grenache, and Petite Sirah, then aged for 16 months in neutral barrels.

VINTAGE

2021’s extremely cold and dry winter coupled with a windy spring made for a lighter yielding crop and small berries. These tiny clusters and berries went through the mild growing season with accelerated ripeness and made for a darker more intense wine. Harvest happened a week early across all varietals. Flavors were riper, denser, and showcased more red fruit then other vintages. This was a stellar growing season and the resultant wines are fresh and bright now but are built to age gracefully.

FOOD PAIRING

Like the snout on the label suggests, Christo pairs well with wild boar sausage, game and other rustic dishes. Try it with olive-braised rabbit, cassoulet or mushroom ragù ove

Color

Red

Blend %

68% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 8% Petite Sirah, 4% Viognier

Appellation

North Coast

Farming

Organic

Alcohol

14.9%

Suggested Retail Price

$27.99

Reviews

93

Wine Advocate - October 19, 2023 "The 2021 Christo features fresh blackcurrant and blueberry aromas with tones of cast iron, violet, sagebrush and conifer. The full-bodied palate is chalky and refreshing with restrained, mineral-driven fruit and a long, perfumed finish."

92

Vinous - July 8, 2024 "The 2021 Christo is a brooding wine. Black cherry, plum, gravel, tobacco, menthol, licorice and dried herbs add to an impression of gravitas. Brawny tannins wrap it all together. This full-bodied red is very much intended for the dinner table."

Trade Materials

Other Wines by this Producer

Nadi Riesling

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Gibson Block Syrah

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Made from the oldest Syrah vines in California, in the heart of the McDowell Valley AVA, this wine reflects the hidden property where it is grown - quiet, obscure and profound. This ancient, dry farmed, mixed block next to the original Gibson Homestead has been producing grapes for over a hundred years. Limited in production due to the unique grape source, this wine is built to enjoy with food.

Game Trail Cabernet Sauvignon

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From a high elevation site in the Yorkville Highlands with coastal influence and large diurnal shifts, the Game Trail Cabernet offers an intense, fragrant, savory, and fresh style of Cabernet that speaks of site and demands to be paired with food. This area, with trails worn by mushroom hunters and wild game that travel through the woods, was a refuge for Chris Bilbro, who hunted here and searched for Chanterelles. The mushroom on the label is a tribute to this unique place and its significance.

Angeli Zinfandel

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Marietta Cellars sits at the entrance to a small canyon off Alexander Valley. Known as Angeli Ranch after the family who originally settled there in 1886, the property’s vineyards connect gravel swales from the Russian River to terraced knolls invisible from the valley floor. The extremes of this site create a wine that is powerful but has surprising elegance and clarity.

Armé Cabernet Sauvignon

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Named after Armé, the husband of Marietta and great-great uncle of Owner/Winemaker Scot Bilbro, this Cabernet Sauvignon conveys a taut freshness and aromatic purity. Stylistically balanced between modern California and Old World, this wine is dense with fresh, dark fruit and tempered with a savory, earthy character. The dry fly on the label is a reference to Chris Bilbro's long family history of fishing with his great uncle Armé along the waterways that now adjoin the three estate vineyards.

Román Zinfandel

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Named after cellarmaster Román Cisneros who has worked at Marietta for over 32 years, this Estate Zinfandel is from the Angeli estate vineyard in Alexander Valley and the McDowell Valley estate vineyard. One of the grape varieties that Marietta is famous for, this wine captures the bright, juicy character of Zinfandel, and hearkens to an era before dark, thick and oaky styles of Zinfandel took hold.

Old Vine Riesling

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Marietta's Old Vine Riesling is the most recent and unique extension of the Old Vine series (or "OVR"). Originally intended as a gift for Scot's partner, Lisa, who is German, the bone dry style of Riesling became a fan favorite and permanent addition. While it is the only wine is the lineup that is not estate grown, it comes from some of California's oldest Riesling vines and offers an extraordinary value and delightful drinking experience.

Old Vine Red

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Affectionately known as "OVR," Marietta's Old Vine Red is a proprietary red wine made to replicate the field blends of the old vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. A groundbreaking combination of grape varieties and multiple vintages first produced in 1982, this wine has blazed the path for red blends for decades. With an historic underground following, it is one of the longest lasting and best known red blends produced today. Predominantly comprised of Zinfandel, Old Vine Red combines pure fruit, a supple mouth feel and a rich, solid structure.

Old Vine Rosé

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Marietta's Old Vine Rosé is a perfect extension of the Old Vine series. Made in a Provençale, direct-press style from some of the oldest Syrah and Grenache vines in California, it is fresh, nuanced, and perfectly balanced to enjoy with food or on its own. As always with the "OVR" wines, it delivers a lot more substance and pleasure than you could expect.