Wine of the Week: Lincoln Peak Vineyard 2020 Marquette
January 29, 2025: It was a great week of tasting – but this Marquette made by a Vermont pioneer stood above the rest
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What a great week of tasting red hybrids from Maryland, New York, Vermont, and Virginia! Check back on Friday to read more about those wines in my weekly “Tasting Table” post — but today, I want to talk about Lincoln Peak Vineyard 2020 Marquette ($36*), the best of the batch.
Lincoln Peak is one of Vermont’s pioneering and most important estates. Founded by Chris Granstrom in 2001 as a vine nursery, Granstrom released his first wines in 2007, and for many years, he was a go-to for expertise and deliciousness in the Green Mountain State.
Upon Granstrom’s retirement in 2021, Shelburne Vineyard took over and ran it until last year when new owners Kevin Bednar and Nichole Bambacigno purchased the vineyard, winery, and tasting room.
The couple first met while working in the California wine industry, but I first tasted their wines when Bednar and Bambacigno were making wine in New Jersey, at William Heritage Winery and Sharott Winery, respectively. Bendar is a Vermont native, so returning home to make wine was part of the long-term plan.
I look forward to tasting their wines going forward, but I got to taste this still-available 2020 Marquette now, which was made by Granstrom before his departure.
After several years in the bottle, this wine stands out for its complexity. It has nice, classic black-and-blue fruit aromas, along with layers of dark chocolate, bay leaf and sage, black tea, and just a hint of dried mint.
Medium-to-full-bodied, the palate brings more of that fruity-herbal balance. The core is dark fruits — black cherry, plum, and blueberry — but that beautiful sage/bay leaf quality lingers just behind. There is a stony, minerally edge, and soft-but-grippy tannins bring well-incorporated structure. The finish is long and chocolate-tinged.
Granstrom is known as an early Marquette maestro for a reason.
Lincoln Peak Vineyard 2020 Marquette
Region: Vermont
Grape(s): 100% marquette
ABV: 14.2%
Winemaking: Nine months in 4th year and older mixed oak
Rating: 91 pts
Price: $36* (Available Here)
*Sample Provided by Winery