Tried this last night at Halloween dinner:
1. MariettaCllrs Christo (Lot#1; 69% Syrah/18% Grenache/12% OPS/1% Viog; 70% SonomaCnty/30% MendoCnty; 15.3%) Geyserville NV: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah/licorice bit alcoholic slight peppery/spicy light toasty/oak/vanilla slightly Paso-like/jammy huge fruit nose; soft/rich/ripe/lush huge fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/spicy bit peppery light vanilla/oak slight earthy/rustic/PS flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long lush/ripe/rich very strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/boysenberry slight vanilla/oak bit peppery/earthy finish w/ light tannic bite; this is to Syrah what OldVineRed is to Zin; terrific drinking at a great price; will go out another 2-5 yrs I'd suspect. $21.00 (SFW&S)
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Scot & Jake released this Rhone blend & a Cab blend a bit over a month ago. I tasted Christo (named after their Dad, Chris) the same day it hit the shelf at Susan's. I loved the Cab but was rather underwhelmed by Christo. It seemed rather clunky & rustic & rough and spoke more of PS than anything. Jake & Scot were a bit puzzled by my take on this wine.
I tried it again a week ago at the winemaker dinner at LoyalHound and couldn't believe it was the same wine. It had so much more lush fruit and shouted of Syrah. So I tried it again last night amid the continual ringing of the doorbell from trick-or-treaters (I was passing out grape Gummies and, keeping the theme, miniatures of Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine) and it reconfirmed my later impression that this is a splendid Rhone blend even better than the OVR.
Marietta sold thru the entirety of Lot#1 Christo and is now preparing to release Lot#2. There must be other folks out there who are equally enamored of this wine.
Tom