Deep purplish ruby with lush berry aromas. Minerality combines nicely with full-bodied fruit flavors plus woody/forest floor spice. Sweet tannins and an intensely long finish make this wine compels, year after year.
"2014 was a magnificent vintage for Pinot Noir on the Sonoma Coast, and the 2014 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard exhibits notes of brown sugar, sweet blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, forest floor, an ethereal floral nuance, stunning richness, and a multi-layered, skyscraper-like mid-palate and finish. This is supple but profoundly deep, rich and iconic. Drink it over the next 15 or so years. - Robert M. Parker, Jr."
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 223, March 4th 2016), 97 pts
"Elegant and richly spiced, with fine-grained dried cherry and berry flavors that carry hints of aged beef and hot stone. The minerally finish is long and caressing, with silky tannins and forest floor notes. Drink now through 2028. —K.M."
- Wine Spectator's Insider (June 9th 2021), 95 pts
"The 2013 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard doesn’t have quite the drama, depth of flavor or profound depth of the 2012. This dark plum/ruby-colored wine offers displays crisp acids as well as notes of Chinese black tea and orange rind, and builds incrementally in the mouth to a medium to full-bodied finish. By Marcassin standards, it’s just a brilliant wine rather than a compellingly great one. - Robert M. Parker, Jr."
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 223, March 2016), 94+ pts
"The 2012 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard, which comes primarily from the Calera clone (although I suspect there are a few mystery clones in their plantings), always seems to remind me of a grand cru from Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, particularly Morey-St.-Denis. Dense ruby/plum, its sweet nose of strawberries, black cherry liqueur, fresh porcini mushrooms and forest floor is followed by a dark, full-bodied, rich and concentrated wine that is supple, dramatic, and even flamboyant. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. - Robert M. Parker, Jr."
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 223, March 2016), 97 pts
"In 2012, a very large crop that was quite ripe produced a supple, sexy, fruit-forward style of Pinot Noir. The dense purple 2012 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard offers up broad, savory mushroom, forest floor, blackcurrant and Asian plum sauce notes and has full body, sweet tannin and good acidity. Drink this sumptuous beauty over the next decade or more. - Robert Parker"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 220, August 2015), 95+ pts
"The 2011 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard has sweet berry fruit, roasted herbs, incense, a touch of background wood spice and foresty notes all present in this medium-bodied, slightly lighter style of Pinot Noir from Marcassin. This was a challenging vintage, but the wines turned out outstanding, and very Burgundian. The alcohol is 13.9%, which is one of their lowest sugar levels. The wine presents a very attractive, moderately intense perfume, good acidity and excellent precision. Drink it over the next 7-8 years. - Robert Parker"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 220, August 2015), 92 pts
"Not surprisingly, the finest wine of this trio is the 2010 Pinot Noir Marcassin Estate. Deep plum/ruby/purple-colored to the edge, it offers notes of boysenberries, mulberries and a hint of raspberries. The site's minerality is well-positioned in the full-bodied flavors which continue the blue fruit invasion, so to speak, but with more forest floor and composty notes, and a complex, northern Cote de Nuits Vosne-Romanee or Morey-St.-Denis personality expressed in the gorgeous fruit. The sweetness of the tannin, the finish of 40+ seconds, and the great intensity this wine exhibits make it another compelling Pinot Noir from these two reclusive geniuses. Drink it over the next decade or more. - Robert Parker"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 210, Dec. 30th 2013), 98 pts
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 ...
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