Great for a Cali pinot. Drinking at peak now but will last for another 10+ years easily. The QPR is off, can get other 2004 at a fraction of the cost with limited drop-off in quality.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drank this with slow roasted pork and polenta. An incredible wine at 17 years old. Amazingly dense, warm expressive fruit, a kaleidoscope of rich cherry, peach, black plum and sinuous forest floor herbs and mirepoix. Medium acidity, good finish, wonderful complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2004 MARCASSIN MARCASSIN VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR-young, vibrant and dense with super ripe dark fruit that immediately blasts the olfactory sense and continues on upon tasting; add in some clove and spice to the blueberry, blackberry, black cherry and black currant fruit; after some time in the glass, it settled in offering some nice treats; a strong candidate for decanting as are many of these.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drinking beautifully! Wonderful complexity on the nose and palate with balanced structure and enduring finish. Paired beautifully with wild boar shoulder!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I love the commentary on this wine. Agree, this is not for everyone. And if you are a Burgundy...dare I say it...snob....then just sell whatever you have of this. Its all California Pinot. Big. Juicy. Ripe. Bold. Powerful. None of the words you would usually see describing most Pinots raised in Burgundy. And thats fine. I am not saying one is better than the other - just saying that Cali Pinot should not be compared to Burgundy. May as well compare a Cab to a Syrah. They are THAT different. I love both for the record. This wine is 11 years in and it will probably go for another 11...easily. Its huge. Smooth as can be. The epitome of fine wine making. Helen is a Goddess of California wine makers and deservedly so. This effort is just another example of her brilliance.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dark ruby red, ripe dark fruit nose and good weight. Tasted it blind, guessed it was a new world pinot and a bit Rhone like in style. Good intensity, lots of dark fruit, sweet and high alcohol.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ripe red fruits, caramel, sugarcane, cedar wood and vanilla on the nose. The nose evolved nicely over time. The weight was there. Good complexity. For me, it's a little too sweet and the wood had not fully integrated. Lots of life left. It will be amazing with more cellaring.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bricking, dark cherry red color; tart raspberry, black cherry, brown sugar, VA nose; tightish, complex, ripe black cherry, black raspberry palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I find that the world's greatest wines can sometimes be unpredictable and controversial. This is especially true with the Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir. They are always among the most complicated pinot noirs I've tasted. But I find that Helen Turley's pinots both from Marcassin and Martinelli don't necessarily age linearly, so the experience of the same wine can vary with each tasting and the balance of the components are constantly shifting. Today, the Marcassin was rich on the palate. There is a wealth of ripe fruit, but was offset by savory and slightly charred roasted peppers and tomatoes, coincidentally (or maybe not coincidentally) similar to the ratatouille on our plates. There were hints of fresh herbs, forest floor and a slight licorice (?) component. One taster found the latter to be off-putting, describing it as artificial-tasting. But, as with all Marcassins, it's not for everybody, and it's never boring. And there's no question this is an impeccably made wine. Thanks to Jim Dietz for sharing this bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ruby color in the glass. The nose is deceptively rich and ethereal at the same time. Soy and black cherries. Delicious and rich palate but great balance. Wonderful wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 30min at the restaurant, should have gone another 30-45min. Nose seemed a bit corky to me, but everyone else said it was just fine. This is a huge wine, needs a good amt of time to open. Very juicy, red fruit.. All in all very,very good juice. Not worth the price on this bottle for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for 30+ minutes. Big powerful red with solid acidic backbone. Needs more time to fully integrate. Very dark for a Pinot with strong fruit, jam, wet earth characteristics.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wine Spectator Offline, San Diego (Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego): Darker than most pinots noir. Notes of musk, clean animal fur, holiday cranberry relish, cherries, orange peel, menthol. Changed moment to moment in the glass, as great wines do. One taster said "like a good Oregon pinot noir, spiked with a little Jagermeister."
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I didn't think it was possible, but the fruit is getting bigger! Drank against a couple of 1990 Eschezeaux and it had none of the class of the Burgundies. This thing needs years it is that huge!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Brought to Moto where they decanted it for about 2 hours. Soft fruit. Actually quite delicate--a bit faded. I would have liked to have tried this upon opening and 1 hr. Perhaps a little too much air. Very enjoyable but I could pick 10 other Pinots that are better, at < half the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dark red, almost purple, color. Slightly reticent nose of blackberry liqueur, baking spice, and minerals. In the mouth, plush and ripe, with jammy blackberry fruit, a touch of black cherry, floral, and spice notes. Gentle acidity, which emphasizes the wine's ripeness without giving it a heavy or syrupy quality. Long finish. A-
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
When Ramon seems to be around, a funny thing seems to happen, in that I find that Marcassin appears. Of all the Marcassin wines I have tasted over the years, save one, it's been out of the generous hands of Ramon. Pop and pour and then I hit to swirling it so I could help it aerate. Fragrant and high-toned aromatics with no booze perceived. Blackberry, raspberry fruit with kind of a juicy Jolly Rancher and spice palate. Balanced, there's also a note of earth or soil, something loamy and old world about the wine. I can't recall having a bad bottle of Marcassin and this wine, given the vintage, did not show the heat nor ripeness that I had wondered would be there.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Aromatically - perfectly ripe pure strawberry, and some faint simple spice and a bit of barrel toast very simple aromatics. On the palate nice balance density, sweetness, etc. but this wine lacks complexity. It is ripe balanced and enjoyable but does not have any major alluring qualities which is should have for the price of entry. Vastly over-rated. 92-94
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Blind Pinot tasting (Bellevue, WA): (Group's #3 (my #3)) – 1 first place vote, 0 second place votes, 6 third place votes – The nose showed cherry, mushroom and forest floor aromas. With some additional time in the glass, there were moments when it had a slightly plastic-like smell. The palate had cherry, chalk, mushroom and earthy flavors. This wine seemed older than it turned out to be, and I thought it was in a good place to drink now. This wine was medium to full bodied with a rich mouthfeel and a long finish that had some medicinal-like qualities. This was a really nice wine, but the slight plastic smell and medicinal taste that were evident at times kept this from being extraordinary.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Tasted double blind, I noted cherry cough syrup flavors with a flintiness on the nose, as well as silky tannin. I found this wine somewhat confounding - definite pinot-like characteristics, but didn't totally feel like pinot noir. Thus, I decided to guess that this was a Passetoutgrains - not because it tasted like the handful of passetoutgrains that I've had before, but simply because a blend of pinot noir with another grape like gamay could possibly explain the confusing pinot-but-not-pinot character of this wine. Rated 8.7 out of 10 at the time, wrote "lacks acidity... not crazy about this".
Upon the reveal, I felt bad for being down on the wine, since it was very generous of the donor... but I'm also glad I was able to determine that this is not my cup of tea while being free from any influence of the label.
Upon the re
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wow--smoking good tonight. Gave it some airtime with the cork out, but did not decant. After a couple hours poured a glass and it was good from the start. Rich, velvety Pinot nose, with a palate that backs it up and shows sweet plum and currant and a hint of soy. Long finish, good balance--again, not a wine that a Burgundy fan would likely appreciate, but a great wine for a California Pinot Noir. (PE: 95)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The day before the 4th, so I asked LC if she wanted to sit in the backyard apropos of nothing and drink this. Incrediblly refined, and right up there with the 2003. Dried fruit, not a hint of sweetness anywhere. Spices (nutmeg/cinammon) but very subtle. Some hint of lovely cedar materialized over the 2 hours we lingered. 14.4 % abv. Absolutely outstanding stuff and worth every penny I paid.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Give it some airtime and--wow! Amazing wine, with fresh, red fruit flavors, cinnamon and clove, plenty of juicy sweetness to balance the acidity. Not a Burgundy-lovers wine (at least IMHO), but definitely a wine for those who appreciate California Pinot Noir.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Initially this was amazing, both the nose and the palate. Intense, perfumed nose of flowers and red fruit, with hints of hard spice. The palate was rich and mouthcoating (for a Pinot) and devoid of any hard edges or overwrought acidity. However, this started to fall apart in the glass after 20+ minutes and become somewhat one-dimensional and thin. With BBQ pork belly, however, it was a great match, and the wine once again showed its stuff. Very strange experience overall (especially with the food). Maybe something was off with this bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Popped and poured with a "pinot conneseur" and what a wine. My first Marcassin and I thought I knew what a Pinot Nior was supposed to be. This wine is ethereal with a nose you don't want to leave and a flavor profile like none before it finishing with pepper and licorice. Absolutely & simply amazing.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
9/21/2023 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Great for a Cali pinot. Drinking at peak now but will last for another 10+ years easily. The QPR is off, can get other 2004 at a fraction of the cost with limited drop-off in quality.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/4/2022 - levicn Does not like this wine: 90 Points
中宝石红色，闻香有肉鲜，淡淡老酒酱味，山楂的果香，陈年的榛子气息，入口酸度中等，单宁紧致，酒液咸，收口甜，明显感觉出来有残糖，植物气息和草药味占主导，后段微苦伴随着辛辣。余味淡淡红果，木质香气。有些奇怪的一支酒，小伙伴说像咳嗽糖浆的味道，细品余味中找回一些加分，香气很漂亮，也很持久，满口花果香。草本植物气息过于明显，缺乏果香的愉悦感，酒似乎有些老了，处于适饮期末端。
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/25/2021 - pjhr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Continues to drink beautifully! Wonderful complexity on the nose and luscious ripe palate with delectable structure and enduring finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/20/2021 - Vinemine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank this with slow roasted pork and polenta. An incredible wine at 17 years old. Amazingly dense, warm expressive fruit, a kaleidoscope of rich cherry, peach, black plum and sinuous forest floor herbs and mirepoix. Medium acidity, good finish, wonderful complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/24/2019 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drank blind against a $1500 Burg. At 1/4 of the price, Marcassin was still the better wine even by Burg experts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/22/2018 - pjhr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Continues to drink beautifully! Wonderful complexity on the nose and luscious ripe palate with delectable structure and enduring finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/4/2018 - Blake Brown Likes this wine:
2004 MARCASSIN MARCASSIN VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR-young, vibrant and dense with super ripe dark fruit that immediately blasts the olfactory sense and continues on upon tasting; add in some clove and spice to the blueberry, blackberry, black cherry and black currant fruit; after some time in the glass, it settled in offering some nice treats; a strong candidate for decanting as are many of these.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/28/2015 - pjhr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drinking beautifully! Wonderful complexity on the nose and palate with balanced structure and enduring finish. Paired beautifully with wild boar shoulder!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/28/2015 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 95 Points
I love the commentary on this wine. Agree, this is not for everyone. And if you are a Burgundy...dare I say it...snob....then just sell whatever you have of this. Its all California Pinot. Big. Juicy. Ripe. Bold. Powerful. None of the words you would usually see describing most Pinots raised in Burgundy. And thats fine. I am not saying one is better than the other - just saying that Cali Pinot should not be compared to Burgundy. May as well compare a Cab to a Syrah. They are THAT different. I love both for the record. This wine is 11 years in and it will probably go for another 11...easily. Its huge. Smooth as can be. The epitome of fine wine making. Helen is a Goddess of California wine makers and deservedly so. This effort is just another example of her brilliance.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/18/2015 - Gabbby wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby red, ripe dark fruit nose and good weight. Tasted it blind, guessed it was a new world pinot and a bit Rhone like in style. Good intensity, lots of dark fruit, sweet and high alcohol.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/18/2015 - Burgnick wrote: 93 Points
Ripe red fruits, caramel, sugarcane, cedar wood and vanilla on the nose. The nose evolved nicely over time. The weight was there. Good complexity. For me, it's a little too sweet and the wood had not fully integrated. Lots of life left. It will be amazing with more cellaring.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2014 - pjhr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drinking beautifully! Wonderful complexity on the nose and palate with balanced structure and enduring finish. Classic Marcassin!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/7/2014 - Amerique wrote: 95 Points
Delicious, rich highly extracted strawberry/raspberry fruit, excellent structure, slight chalkiness, long finish, spectacular wine!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/5/2013 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Bricking, dark cherry red color; tart raspberry, black cherry, brown sugar, VA nose; tightish, complex, ripe black cherry, black raspberry palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/3/2013 - Jonathan T wrote: 93 Points
I find that the world's greatest wines can sometimes be unpredictable and controversial. This is especially true with the Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir. They are always among the most complicated pinot noirs I've tasted. But I find that Helen Turley's pinots both from Marcassin and Martinelli don't necessarily age linearly, so the experience of the same wine can vary with each tasting and the balance of the components are constantly shifting. Today, the Marcassin was rich on the palate. There is a wealth of ripe fruit, but was offset by savory and slightly charred roasted peppers and tomatoes, coincidentally (or maybe not coincidentally) similar to the ratatouille on our plates. There were hints of fresh herbs, forest floor and a slight licorice (?) component. One taster found the latter to be off-putting, describing it as artificial-tasting. But, as with all Marcassins, it's not for everybody, and it's never boring. And there's no question this is an impeccably made wine. Thanks to Jim Dietz for sharing this bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/20/2013 - fdub Likes this wine: 98 Points
Ruby color in the glass. The nose is deceptively rich and ethereal at the same time. Soy and black cherries. Delicious and rich palate but great balance. Wonderful wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/18/2013 - Amerique wrote: 95 Points
Rich, delicious, dark strawberry fruit, excellent structure, slightly hot, long finish
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/4/2013 - pjhr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Just a lovely new world pinot! Still young, but opens up beautifully with layers of delicious fruit, floral notes and hints of cedar.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/5/2012 - paffy wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 30min at the restaurant, should have gone another 30-45min. Nose seemed a bit corky to me, but everyone else said it was just fine. This is a huge wine, needs a good amt of time to open. Very juicy, red fruit.. All in all very,very good juice. Not worth the price on this bottle for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/15/2011 - vumansky wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for 30+ minutes. Big powerful red with solid acidic backbone. Needs more time to fully integrate. Very dark for a Pinot with strong fruit, jam, wet earth characteristics.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/6/2011 - Javachip wrote: 95 Points
Wine Spectator Offline, San Diego (Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego): Darker than most pinots noir. Notes of musk, clean animal fur, holiday cranberry relish, cherries, orange peel, menthol. Changed moment to moment in the glass, as great wines do. One taster said "like a good Oregon pinot noir, spiked with a little Jagermeister."
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/2/2011 - drycab wrote:
I didn't think it was possible, but the fruit is getting bigger! Drank against a couple of 1990 Eschezeaux and it had none of the class of the Burgundies. This thing needs years it is that huge!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/23/2011 - plitton wrote: 90 Points
Brought to Moto where they decanted it for about 2 hours. Soft fruit. Actually quite delicate--a bit faded. I would have liked to have tried this upon opening and 1 hr. Perhaps a little too much air. Very enjoyable but I could pick 10 other Pinots that are better, at < half the price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/4/2010 - gutt22 wrote:
Dark red, almost purple, color. Slightly reticent nose of blackberry liqueur, baking spice, and minerals. In the mouth, plush and ripe, with jammy blackberry fruit, a touch of black cherry, floral, and spice notes. Gentle acidity, which emphasizes the wine's ripeness without giving it a heavy or syrupy quality. Long finish. A-
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/19/2010 - Frank Murray III wrote:
When Ramon seems to be around, a funny thing seems to happen, in that I find that Marcassin appears. Of all the Marcassin wines I have tasted over the years, save one, it's been out of the generous hands of Ramon. Pop and pour and then I hit to swirling it so I could help it aerate. Fragrant and high-toned aromatics with no booze perceived. Blackberry, raspberry fruit with kind of a juicy Jolly Rancher and spice palate. Balanced, there's also a note of earth or soil, something loamy and old world about the wine. I can't recall having a bad bottle of Marcassin and this wine, given the vintage, did not show the heat nor ripeness that I had wondered would be there.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/22/2010 - Harrypotter wrote: 93 Points
Aromatically - perfectly ripe pure strawberry, and some faint simple spice and a bit of barrel toast very simple aromatics. On the palate nice balance density, sweetness, etc. but this wine lacks complexity. It is ripe balanced and enjoyable but does not have any major alluring qualities which is should have for the price of entry. Vastly over-rated. 92-94
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2010 - last chance wrote: 94 Points
Blind Pinot tasting (Bellevue, WA): (Group's #3 (my #3)) – 1 first place vote, 0 second place votes, 6 third place votes – The nose showed cherry, mushroom and forest floor aromas. With some additional time in the glass, there were moments when it had a slightly plastic-like smell. The palate had cherry, chalk, mushroom and earthy flavors. This wine seemed older than it turned out to be, and I thought it was in a good place to drink now. This wine was medium to full bodied with a rich mouthfeel and a long finish that had some medicinal-like qualities. This was a really nice wine, but the slight plastic smell and medicinal taste that were evident at times kept this from being extraordinary.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/7/2010 - amateurwino wrote: 87 Points
Tasted double blind, I noted cherry cough syrup flavors with a flintiness on the nose, as well as silky tannin. I found this wine somewhat confounding - definite pinot-like characteristics, but didn't totally feel like pinot noir. Thus, I decided to guess that this was a Passetoutgrains - not because it tasted like the handful of passetoutgrains that I've had before, but simply because a blend of pinot noir with another grape like gamay could possibly explain the confusing pinot-but-not-pinot character of this wine. Rated 8.7 out of 10 at the time, wrote "lacks acidity... not crazy about this".
Upon the reveal, I felt bad for being down on the wine, since it was very generous of the donor... but I'm also glad I was able to determine that this is not my cup of tea while being free from any influence of the label.
Upon the re
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/25/2009 - MarkC wrote: 95 Points
Wow--smoking good tonight. Gave it some airtime with the cork out, but did not decant. After a couple hours poured a glass and it was good from the start. Rich, velvety Pinot nose, with a palate that backs it up and shows sweet plum and currant and a hint of soy. Long finish, good balance--again, not a wine that a Burgundy fan would likely appreciate, but a great wine for a California Pinot Noir. (PE: 95)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/7/2009 - JOsgood wrote: 93 Points
Just wonderful. I was surprised by the elegance of this bottling. Very fresh tasting. Silky in the mouth. Long on the finish. Superb California pinot.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/18/2009 - drycab wrote: 92 Points
Very spicey and acidic compared to the last one. Bottle variation is apparently Huge in these wines and it shows.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/7/2009 - sosgoodjhu wrote: 96 Points
doesn't get much better for New World pinot
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/3/2009 - Colima74 wrote: 97 Points
The day before the 4th, so I asked LC if she wanted to sit in the backyard apropos of nothing and drink this. Incrediblly refined, and right up there with the 2003. Dried fruit, not a hint of sweetness anywhere. Spices (nutmeg/cinammon) but very subtle. Some hint of lovely cedar materialized over the 2 hours we lingered. 14.4 % abv. Absolutely outstanding stuff and worth every penny I paid.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/14/2009 - MarkC wrote:
Give it some airtime and--wow! Amazing wine, with fresh, red fruit flavors, cinnamon and clove, plenty of juicy sweetness to balance the acidity. Not a Burgundy-lovers wine (at least IMHO), but definitely a wine for those who appreciate California Pinot Noir.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/30/2009 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
2nd Annual J.R. & Renee Morel Madness Dinner (The Plumed Horse Restaurant, Saratoga, California): Medium dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; big tart cherry, cherry syrup and VA nose; solid tart cherry, cherry syrup and framboise palate with depth; medium-plus finish 92+ pts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/26/2009 - MarkC wrote:
Initially this was amazing, both the nose and the palate. Intense, perfumed nose of flowers and red fruit, with hints of hard spice. The palate was rich and mouthcoating (for a Pinot) and devoid of any hard edges or overwrought acidity. However, this started to fall apart in the glass after 20+ minutes and become somewhat one-dimensional and thin. With BBQ pork belly, however, it was a great match, and the wine once again showed its stuff. Very strange experience overall (especially with the food). Maybe something was off with this bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/20/2009 - drycab wrote: 97 Points
Popped and poured with a "pinot conneseur" and what a wine. My first Marcassin and I thought I knew what a Pinot Nior was supposed to be. This wine is ethereal with a nose you don't want to leave and a flavor profile like none before it finishing with pepper and licorice. Absolutely & simply amazing.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment