1997 Marcassin Gauer Vineyard Upper Barn Chardonnay

Helen Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer are one of Napa Valley’s most famous couples. Both are winemakers and entrepreneurs who between them have consulted or worked for a significant number of the valley’s most prestigious wineries. They founded their own winery, Marcassin, in 1990 in the Russian River Valley where they cultivate fewer than 20 acres planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Marcassin Chardonnays are consistently among the finest produced in California – or anywhere in the world, according to Robert M. Parker J. – and the couple is also now producing highly-rated Pinot Noir. Parker has written that Turley and Wetlaufer “continue to rank at the top of the short list of producers making the world’s most prodigious, complex wines.” The total annual production at Marcassin is fewer than 2,000 cases and the wines are distributed only through the winery’s mailing list.

Carneros AVA, also known as Los Carneros, is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys at the top of the San Francisco Bay. The 8,000 vineyard acres are mostly planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both of which thrive in the district’s cool, marine climate. Carneros became an AVA in 1983 and it has attracted foreign wine companies along with local producers. It has been especially appealing to European producers of sparkling wines including the giant Spanish cava producers Codorniu and Frexinet, and the French Champagne house Taittinger. Codorniu in Carneros is called Artesa, and Frexinet’s Carneros brand is Gloria Ferrer. Taittinger calls its Carneros winery Domaine Carneros. The European producers also make still wines in Carneros.

This white variety originated in Burgundy, but is now grown around the world. Its flexibility to thrive in many regions translates to wide flavor profile in the market. Chardonnay is commonly used in making Champagne and sparkling wines.