The two new Marietta blends hit NM this weekend, so I was hot to try them:
1. MariettaCllrs Christo Lot#1 70% Sonoma/30% MendoCnty (69% Syrah/18% Grenache/12% PS/1% Viog; 15.3%) Geyserville NV: Very dark color; strong blackberry/blueberry/bit boysenberry light smokey/pencilly/oak very slight earthy/Rhonish pleasant nose; bit tart/tangey/lean spicy/Syrah/blueberry/blackberry slight earthy/pungent/Rhonish flavor w/ light tangy tannins; med.long tart/tangy/lean strong blueberry/Syrah/blackberry slight vanilla/pencilly/oak finish w/ light/bitey/tangy tannins; a rather angular/tangy/rustic/coarse Calif Syrah; needs some age yet. $21.00 (SFW&S)
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2. MariettaCllrs Arme Lot#1 (88% CS/6% Merlot/4% PetiteVerdot/2% Malbec; 58% SonomaCnty/42% MendoCnty; 14.8%) NV: Very dark color; strong herbal/CS/blackcurranty some vanilla/Am.oak rather earthy/dusty/OV bit smokey nose; fairly tart strong herbal/Cab/blackcurranty earthy/dusty/OV light Am.oak/vanilla finish; a rather rustic/old-timey Calif Cab at a great price; reminds some of the Pedroncelli or Parducci Cabs w/o the redwood tanky/aged character; a bit like BarneyFetzer's Cabs w/o the dominating Am.oak; actually mostly like...surprise/surprise..the old Marietta Cabs; can use 2-6 yrs of age. $24.00 (SFW&S)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I'd first read about these two blends in JonBonne's article on the Bilbros about a month ago. So I was excited to try them when they showed up here in NM last week. These are designed to be value-priced Rhone/Cab blends to compliment the Marietta OldVineRed...a wine I've followed from Lot#1, now at Lot#60. But at a higher price poiny than OVR. For a $14 red, the OVR is one of the great Calif values around.
I was not all that impressed by the Christo and think the Jaffurs or Ojai basic Syrahs, at $3-$5 more, are better wines. It didn't show as much Syrah fruit as I would like and a bit on the rough/rustic side. Additional btl age may help this wine a lot, I suspect.
But I was mightly impressed by the Arme..and I'm not much of a Cabernet fan. It reminded me a lot of old-timey Calif Cabs I used to drink back in the '70's. I think it will age into something pretty special.
Tom