2022 Marietta Cellars Zinfandel Angeli Estate Grown Alexander Valley 750 ml

Marietta Cellars is one of the icons of California Zinfandel—and Angeli Estate is one of their signature bottles. Grown on their home-base estate vineyard in Geyserville, the heart of Sonoma’s prime Zin country, the 95-point 2022 is “deep, layered and exquisitely beautiful,” according to Vinous. They also praised the “superb quality and value” from the “reference-point winery.”

Founded in 1978 by Chris Bilbro, now in the hands of his sons, Jake and Scot, Marietta has focused on quality at reasonable pricing from the very beginning. They started with their spectacular Old Vine Red, a “mixed blacks” blend that quickly became a company calling card.

Today the winery owns and farms 400 acres of their own vines organically, having acquired Limerick Lane Winery and McDowell Valley Vineyards in 2011 and 2012. They have a year-round team of dedicated vineyard and winery workers, most of whom have worked for them for years, and today’s wine is one of their signature bottlings. It comes from their oldest estate site, which they purchased in 1990, after years of buying fruit from the Angeli family.

The Angeli Ranch vineyard sits in a canyon within Alexander Valley. The site spans 35 acres, with vines planted across everything from gravel-rich valley floors to stepped hillside terraces. The result is Zinfandel with a throwback profile: It’s complex, soulful, and beautifully structured, a sophisticated rendition from a terroir that’s both classic Sonoma and unique to Marietta. Vinous said the ‘22 has “a sense of old-school California that is so appealing.”

The 2022 vintage was a study in concentration. A bone-dry winter and late-spring frosts reduced yields significantly, while summer heat spikes accelerated ripening and intensified flavors. The Bilbros fermented the fruit in stainless steel to preserve freshness, then aged the wine for 15 months in seasoned French oak—neutral barrels that add texture without overwhelming the pure fruit character. 

The outcome is a Zinfandel with the ripeness and power you expect from a warm vintage, but with the balance and energy that define Marietta’s house style. It drinks beautifully now but has the structure to reward time in the cellar.