History
Marsanne is believed to have originated in the town of Marsanne, near Montélimar in the northern Rhône Valley; it was first mentioned in 1781 in a description of Hermitage white wine. The white wines of St-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and St-Péray, the latter both still and sparkling, are made predominantly from Marsanne, often blended with Roussanne. Fact: as early as the seventeenth century, the white wines from Hermitage were considered among the world's finest. Thomas Jefferson praised white Hermitage as "the first wine in the world without a single exception.” Really. Over 80% of the world's Marsanne is still found in France.
California Marsanne Timeline
Marsanne arrives in California. Now UC Davis Marsanne Clone O1, it was heat treated for 60 days (1981-1983), subsequently propagated and then made available.
Bob Lindquist produces California’s first varietally-labeled Marsanne under the Qupé label in the Central Coast in the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Santa Ynez.
50 ha/125 acres of Marsanne planted in California, representing about 3% of California acreage dedicated to white Rhône varieties.
Marsanne plantings stood at 47 hectares/116 acres (46.5 hectares/114 acres bearing and 0.81 hectares/2 acres non-bearing) through year-end 2021, representing 0.03% of total vineyard plantings of all California wine grapes.
Marsanne arrived in California in the 1980s, and has become an increasingly important component of the state’s white Rhône-style blends, in addition to being bottled solo. Bob Lindquist, founder of Qupé and proprietor of Lindquist Family Wines, was an early and persistent advocate for the grape, with Qupé making one of the state's most famous single-varietal Marsanne since 1987.