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Marcassin Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2011
No longer available.
| Country: | United States |
| Regions: | California California (Sonoma County) |
| Winery: | Marcassin |
| Grape Types: | Pinot Noir Chardonnay |
| Vintage: | 2011 |
| Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
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Review:
"Love the salted butter, sliced cooked apple and oyster shell character. Hints of uncooked pie crust. Medium- to full-bodied. So much subtle and intense flavor with some nuttiness. Drink now or hold.”
- - James Suckling (February 17th 2024), 97 pts
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The Sonoma Coast bottling is a blend of barrels from Ferren's single vineyard offerings; Lancel Creek, Silver Eagle, Volpert, and Frei Road Vineyards. The wine is always somewhat more approachable early in its life as less new oak is used in the blend. Pure and translucent fruit is the hallmark of this cuvée. Citrus, quince, sea spray, and minerals are buoyed by refreshing acidity and a seamless finish.
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A nuanced, tangy, mouthwatering and approachable wine that is both complex and very drinkable. The aromas are delicate, lifted and fresh, with oyster shells, lime zest, white flowers and chamomile. The palate is super fresh, layering salinity, richness and a long finish. Medium- to full-bodied. Drink or hold
-James Suckling 98 Points
Winemaker’s Notes
Our organically farmed high-density Estate parcel sits at the top of the ridge amongst the diverse coastal forest. Although the soil is sandy, there’s a vein of clay in the subsoil that holds winter rain and allows us to dry-farm the vines. The tight spacing keeps the clusters and soil shaded during the summer heat, which allows the fruit to retain all the nuance of the site. The wine produced here has a character - a signature - all to itself and cannot be replicated elsewhere; it's the antithesis of fruity, forward, easy-to-understand Californian Chardonnay. The grapes are small with thick skins, producing a high level of fruit extract, which translates to deep texture and structure in the wine itself. Concentration allied to freshness is the essence of this wine, and it ages beautifully in bottle for ten to twelve years.
The wine’s aromas and flavors are incredibly complex and diverse, akin to citrus oil, preserved lemon, sage, fennel and caraway. The wine is deep, powerful, and layered with oyster shell freshness cutting through the natural density. Lemongrass, spearmint, and grapefruit power the finish, which pulsates with intensity. You could decant this for an hour before serving to hasten its development. Drink between 2025 and 2030. Serve no cooler than 55º F.
Review:
From a site surrounded by dense forest on two sides, the 2022 Chardonnay DuMOL Estate Vineyard is a bright straw hue and has a more vibrant aromatic nose of fresh mint, bright lime, flint, crushed stones, and white peach. Medium to full-bodied, it boasts a remarkably firm structure with a bit of tannin, a chalky texture, and a savory slanting profile, and it’s long and persistent on the finish. It has an assertive but crystalline feel and a crunchy brightness. It demands a bit of time. Drink 2025-2035.
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Review:
This vineyard is located on a mountain ridge north of Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast at 700 feet elevation, and the wine was aged for 14 months in 39% new French oak. The 2019 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard offers more lime citrus, saline minerality, and white peach, and the palate is fresh, energetic, and consistent with the nose. Texture-wise, it is markedly different, with more focused structure and tension.
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Product Description
The 2011 is a great Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard from a much-maligned and sometimes excessively criticized vintage. 2011 has its low points, but there are many producers who got it right, and survived the challenging growing and harvest conditions. This wine has phenomenal intensity, with plenty of crushed rock, pineapple, honeysuckle, orange and tangerine blossom in an elegant, medium to full-bodied style, with terrific intensity, good acidity and freshness. This is more evolved than either the 2009 or 2010, and probably will be a candidate for 7-8 years of aging, rather than 10 or more.
There is no doubt that Marcassin is the most difficult appointment for people to schedule, to sit down and taste wine with owners Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer. The legacy they have created in California wine is immense. They are in their early seventies, and have decided to completely dedicate themselves to their own vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. I saw them recently, and tasted through these current and upcoming releases of both the Estate Chardonnay and Estate Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay, of course, comes from very low-yielding old Wente clones of Chardonnay planted on the slopes of the Sonoma coastline hillsides. This clone is believed to have been brought over from Burgundy’s grand cru vineyard, Corton-Charlemagne, decades ago.
Marcassin Chardonnay
Here are the notes on the bottled 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and barrel samples of the 2013 and 2014. As readers know, this is probably one of the most Burgundian-styled Chardonnays ever made in California, and it has attracted many imitators. It goes through full malolactic fermentation, and sees a good dosage of new oak, but the tiny yields and meticulous winemaking are brilliant, and the wines, by and large, have aged very well, with the first Estate Chardonnays from 1996, 1997 and 1998 still going strong. The same can be said for some of Helen Turleys first Chardonnays from purchased fruit, particularly from the Lorenzo Vineyard, Hudson Vineyard and Gauer Vineyard/Upper Barn (now owned by the Jackson family, and known as their Alexander Valley Mountain Estate).
-Robert Parker Wine Advocate. 97 Points
Winery: Marcassin
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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Arzuaga Ladera del Norte Ribera del Duero is made from 100% Tempranillo.
The grapes come from organic crops and are harvested from the "Valdesardon" farm, owned by the Arzuaga Navarro family, which is the westernmost vineyard of the Ribera del Duero DO, located at an altitude of 800 meters in the village of Olivares de Duero. Clay-limestone soil on a hillside that will mark the characteristics of the wine.
The wine is of medium high intensity in color, a clear and bright cherry with purple flashes. An array of red fruits such as raspberry and cherry predominates with a high aromatic intensity, combining with balsamic tones, coffee and roasted notes coming from the aging in oak barrels without being overwhelming. This is a fresh and elegant wine, with an easy and balanced entry into the mouth followed by juicy and chewy sensations. Slightly sweet and toasted notes, and a pleasant and balanced aftertaste that is reminiscent of the fruity aromas on the nose.
Ideal companion for red meat, white meat, game and game, roasted or in sauce. Blue fish and soft cheeses.
Review:
"Intense cherry color. Aromas of dried herbs, creamy oak, black fruits and lactic notes. In the mouth, ripe fruits, spices, fine tannins, full-bodied."
- Penin 2022, 92 pts
Ancien Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir.
The Mink Vineyard is located next door to the winery, in the Coombsville Viticultural Area of Napa Valley. Open to the same morning fogs and afternoon breezes that cool Carneros to the west, Coombsville is consistently one of the coolest pockets in Napa. Mink sits inside a small “bowl”, allowing cooler air to settle during the evenings, and making Mink’s mesoclimate a couple degrees cooler, even, than the surrounding hills. But the real secret to Mink’s explosive flavors, smooth, mouth-coating minerality, comes from the soil. Underneath is a layer of compressed volcanic ash, called tufa. The tufa drains the topsoil, storing moisture in its porous structure. The vines are able, with some work, to grow roots into the tufa layer, accessing moisture during the long, dry growing season.
The Mink Pinot Noir exhibits bright and refreshing notes of pomegranate, cherry, and fresh herbs. It gradually opens to deeper and darker berry fruit, blueberry and plum. This vintage is on the more structured side of the spectrum and will continue to evolve over time. Its enchanting mouthwatering minerality invite sip after sip together with bite after bite. A lively wine at release but it will continue to improve over the next 4 - 7 years and can age well beyond a decade as shown by its 20+ year track record.
Review:
"Ripe in flavor and luxurious in texture, this wine is difficult to put down. It is saturated in black cherry, black currant and black fig while staying light on the palate. It's a wonderful indulgence to enjoy by itself or with a roast pheasant or duck breast. — Jim GORDON"
- Wine Enthusiast (April 1st 2024), 95 pts
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