
Marcassin (French for ‘young wild boar’) is a distinctive Sonoma Coast, California winery owned by renowned winemaker Helen Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer, a viticulturalist. Helen Turley has worked as a consultant for numerous acclaimed wineries, but she now focuses mainly on her Marcassin wines.
Helen & John (a viticulturalist) produce around 2,500 cases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir annually. The wines are highly sought after: 90% of the wine is sold via mailing list, and eager connoisseurs can wait years for the chance to be allocated a bottle.
Marcassin’s limited yield 20-acre estate vineyard is located on the Sonoma Coast and planted 2/3 Pinot Noir & 1/3 Chardonnay. It is meticulously farmed with densely planted vines. Fruit for their other vineyard-designated wines are sourced from neighboring Sonoma Coast vineyards.
Helen crafts unique, complex, and highly extolled expressions of Sonoma Coast wines following traditional Burgundian style, fermenting with natural yeast, primarily new oak and extended time on lees. The wines are bottled without fining, filtering or cold stabilization and are typically aged five years prior to release.
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Alain Jaume Gigondas Terrasses de Montmirail is made from 65% Grenache the rest Syrah, Mourvèdre by less than 15%.
Deep red garnet color. Aromas of ripe and black fruits. On the palate the wine is rich, powerful and harmonious - well balanced with wild berry and pepper dominating.
Soil types
Located in and around the famous area called “Dentelles de Montmirail”, the landscape typicity is made by a rocky bar (between 100 and 600 meters high). Soils are made of clay and sand with limestone. The “Dentelles” appeared thanks to the pressure between the Pyrenees and Alps mountains. This is a land of predilection to produce both powerful and fresh wines. Nights are cooler and the grapes ripeness usually comes in late September.
Winemaking & aging
Traditional wine-making in stainless and concrete vats. Crushed and destemmed grapes. Average of 18 days of vatting with pigeages. Ageing in vats mostly and oak barrels. Bottling after 12 – 14 months.
Paul Hobbs George Menini Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Brilliant ruby red in the glass, the 2022 vintage follows the color with matching aromas of wild mountain strawberry, raspberry, and cherry infused with hints of black tea. On the palate, this wine has the texture of thick satin, evolving seamlessly with subtle energy and pleasant tension. Elegant, fine-grained tannins run through a lingering, juicy finish.
Review:
Wow, a super well-structured, vital wine with oodles of generous black fruit flavors on a firm frame that will help it age well and improve with time. Black cherries, blackberries, blueberries, forest floor nuances and a slight smoky, stemmy character from using mostly Calera-clone grapes, with 15% whole clusters and 30% new French oak. Great interplay between layered fruit and a fresh, crunchy texture. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.
-James Suckling 98 Points & #54 in Top 100