70% Zinfandel, 15% Syrah, 5% Petite Sirah, 5% Merlot, 3% Grenache, 2% Barbera

Food pairings: Prime rib, barbecue and roasted vegetables; an easygoing, food-friendly red that pairs effortlessly with almost any meal, and is just as good on its own.

Winemaking: Affectionately known as "OVR", Old Vine Red is a proprietary red made to replicate the old field blends of Sonoma and Mendocino counties, where many grape varieties grew side by side. It is never a single vintage: Lot 75 combines wine from 2022 with older vintages, melding the freshness of young wine with the savory, silky character of aged wine. The approach is hands-off; the fruit is fermented at cool temperatures in neutral oak and stainless steel to preserve its purity, and the wine is aged 60% in neutral barrels and 40% in stainless steel.

Vineyards and terroir: Old Vine Red is built mainly on Zinfandel, with Syrah, Petite Sirah and smaller amounts of other varieties, sourced from old vineyards, many first planted by Italian immigrants, and from Marietta's own sustainably farmed estates. These include the Angeli vineyard in Geyserville, with deep gravel by the Russian River and rocky terraced hillsides, and McDowell Valley in Mendocino County, home to some of California's oldest Syrah and Grenache vines.

Family and history: Chris Bilbro grew up in Cloverdale, in northern Sonoma County, among relatives who loved good food and wine, above all his aunt Marietta, whom he liked to help in the kitchen. He founded Marietta Cellars in 1978 in a rented cow barn in Dry Creek Valley, buying grapes on a handshake from growers of gnarled old vines that other wineries ignored, and made the first Old Vine Red in 1982, at a time when blends were out of fashion. Bottled in numbered lots rather than vintages, it gathered a devoted following by word of mouth and helped create the modern California red blend. In 1990 Chris moved the winery to Geyserville, to a vineyard bought from Viola Angeli, whose family had settled there in 1886. His son Scot Bilbro, trained in viticulture and enology at UC Davis, now owns the winery and makes OVR, which today carries the Old Vine Ranch label; Marietta's tasting room is just off the plaza in Healdsburg.

In the pictures: Owner and winemaker Scot Bilbro in the barrel cellar; old head-trained vines in a Marietta vineyard; and the Angeli vineyard in Geyserville (photos courtesy of Marietta Cellars via its US importer Vintus).