About Marcassin
Marcassin is among the most legendary cult wineries in California, the personal label of pioneering winemaker Helen Turley and her viticulturist husband, John Wetlaufer. Founded around 1990, it helped define the 'true' Sonoma Coast as a world-class region for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Turley, who consulted for a who's-who of cult producers including Colgin, Bryant, Pahlmeyer, and Martinelli, is widely credited as a central figure in the rise of California cult wine once called Marcassin's Chardonnay perhaps the greatest in the world.
The wines come from the roughly 20-acre estate Marcassin Vineyard, planted on a high, wind-swept ridge a few miles from the Pacific near Fort Ross, about two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay. Farmed with meticulous, low-yield attention since the mid-1990s and made with native yeasts, generous new oak, and no fining or filtration, then typically aged around five years before release, the wines are rich, opulent, and famously age-worthy. Production is tiny, on the order of 2,500 cases a year.
Important for visitors to know: Marcassin is not open to the public. It has no tasting room, and the overwhelming majority of its wines are released only to members of its mailing list, whose waiting list is reputed to run thousands of names deep. Prospective buyers can request to join the list through the winery's website; on the secondary market, Marcassin bottles rank among the most coveted and expensive domestic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
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