1. Qupe Marsanne SBC (25% Roussanne; 12.5%) 2013: Med.light gold color; rather fragrant/Rouss/floral/honeysuckle fairly stoney/appley/mineral/Marssanne lovely nose; fairly tart stony/mineral/Marsanne/appley light floral/Rouss/honeysuckle slightly lush/rich flavor; long lightly floral/Rouss/honeysuckle rather appley/Marsanne/stony/metallic tart/lean/tight finish; shows much more of the lean Marsanne character than the '12; quite a nice wine at a very good price. $20.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
We tasted the '12 Marsanne about a month ago:
1. Qupe Marsanne SantaBarbaraCnty (25% Roussanne; 12.5%) 2012: Light gold color; strong appley/stony/Marsanne
rather fragrant floral/apple blossom bit honeyed quite lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy some appley/honeyed/
apple blossom bit stony/Marsanne light honeysuckle/Roussanne favor; very long/lingering floral/apple blossom
light stony/Marsanne bit honeyed finish w/ a very honeyed aftertaste that wells up in the back of your mouth and
goes on & on; a truly profound Marsanne at a great price. $20.00
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BP:
1. Marsanne: Bob was, of course, the first to produce a varietal Marsanne in Calif. I remember when he released
it and was rather underwhelmed by it. It had a lean/hard/stony character that I usually found in Rhone
Marsannes. Little did I know...what glories awaited me. Young Marsanne is not a very interesting wine. But
it is only when that Marsanne gets some age on it that it shows this wonderful honeyed/toasted hazelnuts/
complex character...just as aged Rhone Marsannes do. I've had Qupe Marsanne at 20-25 yrs of age that are
absolutely amazing. In recent yrs, Bob has started adding a bit of Roussanne to his Marsanne to give it more
aromatics and allow it to show much more upon release. Given that Roussanne is also a great ager, I see no
reason that this should impact the ageibility of the Marsanne.
When we ordered our stash, the '12 was sold out, so we got the '13 instead. This '13 seems a bit leaner/tighter, to display the Marsanne more than the Roussanne, than the '12. But that may simply be that it's a younger wine. At any rate, both are quite good examples of Marsanne at very good price.
Tom