As winter deepens, we fill our plates with heartier fare: rich soups, thick stews and roasted meats. It’s only natural to reach for a heavier wine too, something more complex and full-bodied than a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. You could pour a red, of course, but you could also reach for something a little different: marsanne.
Marsanne (pronounced mar-SAHN) is a white grape native to France’s northern Rhone Valley. This grape’s original home is the area known as Hermitage, a steep hill rising above the town of Tain-l’Hermitage, where it is the most widely planted white wine grape in the region. Marsanne made its way to California in the 1980s, setting roots down in Santa Barbara County, where Qupé winemaker Bob Lindquist planted and made the state’s first marsanne in 1987. Now it’s grown in vineyards across the state. And marsanne is showing up in white blends with roussanne and grenache blanc, varietals that also hail from the Rhone Valley.
Fun fact: Thomas Jefferson was such a fan of Hermitage marsanne that in 1791, he wrote that white Hermitage was “the finest wine in the world without a single exception.”
Grown here: Santa Barbara County, Sierra Foothills, Paso Robles, Napa Valley and Sonoma County.
Flavor profile: Marsanne is a medium gold wine with a mouth-coating texture. Honeysuckle, pear and melon aromas fill the glass, and the flavors evoke nuts, honeyed peach and apricot. Ready for something other than chardonnay? Sip marsanne instead.
Taste it: Along with Qupé, other California producers include Batia Vineyards, Beckman Vineyards, Campovida, Cass Vineyard & Winery, Epiphany Cellars, Jeff Cohn Cellars, Miner Family Winery, Preston of Dry Creek, Sans Liege, Tablas Creek Vineyard and Two Shepherds.
Price range: $20-$42
— Mary Orlin, Staff
