Boar of the Fog – Bacchus Hunts Profit in Marcassin Estate Pinot Noir 2013
Bacchus recounts a fog-shrouded chase atop a golden boar to Helen Turley’s secret Sonoma cask - and reveals why Marcassin Estate Pinot Noir 2013 could still claw out roughly 40 percent upside for daring collectors
When the redwoods whispered my name
One twilight in 2015 I slipped north along Highway 1, the Pacific roaring below like an angry krater. Out of the coastal fog charged a young golden boar – a marcassin – its hooves sparking on wet shale. I vaulted onto its back, ivy crown whipping in the salt wind, and we tore through redwood shadows until a lamplit barn appeared on the ridge. Inside, Helen Turley guarded a lone cask marked “Estate Pinot 2013.” I cracked the bung, tasted silken cherry and forest floor, and pressed a moonstone into the staves. “Your price will run as wildly as this beast,” I promised, as the boar vanished into the fog with a squeal that still echoes down the Sonoma Coast.
Price trail – from hush to roar
Bottled mailing-list–only at $125-150, the 2013 now trades at $400-500 in provenance-perfect condition, with retail averages nearer $370 and Liv-ex prints at $450+ Wine-Searcher. Over five years that is a 60-80 percent climb – impressive for Pinot yet tame beside the boar’s potential. Auction hammers hit $450 for singletons and sail past $500 for pristine OWC threes; demand is U.S.-centric but fierce.
My silicon sibyls – Monte-Carlo runs on 10 000 storms of data – suggest a median $700 by 2030 if supply stays caged, implying +40 percent upside in six years, though the cone of fate widens with every thin-volume print.
Why the tusks still gleam
Scarcity bites first: barely 300-500 cases, no tasting room, a mailing list guarded like a boar’s den. Critical thunder follows – Parker 98, Galloni 96, Dunnuck 97 – placing the wine shoulder-to-shoulder with Grand Cru Burgundy. Finally, age curve: at eleven years the 2013 is only entering its truffle-and-tea middle act, with a window stretching to 2033+. Each year a few more bottles vanish into hedonistic bellies, choking supply for the next bidder.
Bacchus’ three-step hunting guide
- Stalk below $420 for single bottles or <$1 250 for OWC threes – anything cheaper is fresh spoor worth pouncing on.
- Store cold and dark – this 14.9 percent beast needs a cool lair to soften its tannic tusks.
- Sell into U.S. cult-Pinot spikes – typically autumn auction seasons or Napa Premiere hype weeks, when domestic collectors loosen purse strings and Burgundy fans hunt California trophies.
Last draught beneath the redwoods
The moonstone still pulses in that cask’s head, and I still hear wild hooves in the coastal fog. Marcassin 2013 may trade infrequently, but each print carves the price higher. Saddle the boar, hold tight through the mist, and when the next roar rolls down the valley, be ready to cash the echo.
