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Chardonnay 2009 75cl

Sonoma | California | United States of America
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2008 2009
Critics scores
98 Robert Parker
Light gold in color, with an extraordinary nose of poached pears, citrus honey and a touch of orange rind, the 2009 Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard has beautiful fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel, penetrating acids and an underlying minerality and richness. The finish goes on for a good 40-45 seconds. This is sensational Chardonnay and very much in keeping with this vineyard. Drink now-2020. 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).
Producer
Marcassin Vineyard
Marcassin is the personal domaine of Helen Turley and her husband, John Wetlaufer. Ms. Turley is a tour-de-force winemaker that helped set alight the extraordinary reputations of Turley Wine Cellars, Peter Michael, Colgin, Blankiet and Bryant Family before creating her own personal domaine on the Sonoma Coast. Robert Parker is one of their greatest fans. In his 210th issue, he firmly states, “The visionary husband and wife team of John Wetlaufer and Helen Turley have created a largely unprecedented legacy of extraordinary quality that is unsurpassed by anyone else in Northern California…They were among the first to recognize the extraordinary potential for world-class quality wine production on the Sonoma Coast.” She and her husband produce a series of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from their own vineyard fruit, which include the eponymous Marcassin vineyard and the Three Sisters vineyard, which produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as Blue Slide Ridge, from which they exclusively produce Pinot Noir. Their wines mostly receive scores in the mid 90s, though they are often close to perfect scores.