Fort Ross Seaview

Marcassin Vineyard

Helen Turley made cult wines for half of Napa before planting her own ground on the Bohan Dillon ridge, and after 2010 she made wine from nowhere else.

Grand Cru

History

Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer bought their roughly 40 acre parcel at 29600 Bohan Dillon Road in 1989 and began planting in the early 1990s, neighbors to the Martinellis, whose winemaker Turley became in 1992 and at whose winery the early Marcassin wines were made. Alongside the estate wines she made the famous Blue Slide Ridge and Three Sisters bottlings from Martinelli fruit through 2011, then committed Marcassin to its own vineyard alone. A winery rose on the property in 2010.

The Site

About twenty planted acres of the ranch parcel at roughly 1,200 feet on the second ridge from the Pacific, ground whose Pinot convinced more than one neighbor, Ehren Jordan among them, to buy on the same road.

Vines and Blocks

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, farmed to Turley's famously exacting low-yield standard.

The Wines

The Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are released years behind the vintage to a mailing list that effectively never opens: opulent, long-lived wines that made the extreme Sonoma Coast's reputation before the appellation had a name.

This comprehensive guide is part of the WineSaint Wine Region Guide collection. Last updated: September 2026.

Vineyard Details

Appellation
Fort Ross-Seaview · Sonoma County
Size
43 acres
Planted Since
1996
Key Grapes
Pinot NoirChardonnay
Key Producers
Marcassin (Helen Turley)