I'd mentioned in my LimerickLane/Pig+Fig dinner post several weeks ago that Scot & Jake Bilbro's joint effort running LimerickLane and MariettaCllrs had ended (amicably) recently, w/ Scot taking charge of Marietta and Jake LimerickLane.
So...when I got home today there was a box of wine on my stoop from MariettaCllrs. WTF??? I hadn't ordered anything from Marietta.
So I ripped open the package and there were 6 new btls of MariettaCllrs, all with a classy redesigned label I hope (for tradition's sake) he'll keep the old/stodgy/frumpy MariettaCllrs label, designed by Dad, on their OldVineRed (#64 now, I believe).
Over 2 yrs ago, they had added two new wines to the Marietta lineup, a Cab based Arme and a Syrah based Christo. Both wines are screamingly good deals for those wines.
With this new release, the emphasis will be on vintage dated wines and estate-grown grapes. A "Roman" AlexVlly estate Zin, a "GameTrail" YorkvilleHighlands estate Cabernet, and, most exciting, a "GibsonBlock" McDowellVlly estate Syrah.
I'm particularly excited by this last one. In the mid-'80's, George Bursick made some exceptional McDowellVllyVnyd Syrahs, as good as any Syrah being made in Calif. And, with his departure, that Syrah started a slow decline. With the purchase of GibsonRanch by the Bilbros, I've had high expectations for the return of GibsonRanch to its former greatness. The recent Bedrock GibsonRanch Heritage was a good step in that comeback. I have great hopes for this GibsonBlock Syrah to fully mark that return to greatness.
The wines have just been bttld, so I won't taste them for another few months. But the TN's will eventually appear. And, as usual, they will be (short/boring)!!
Jeez...between Sam, Scot, and Jake...these Bilbro boys are going to bankrupt me!! :-)
Tom