Marcus Notaro

The Path

Winemaking for Marcus Notaro was built through apprenticeship and repetition, not shortcut. He trained at Chateau Ste. Michelle before taking his first major winemaking post at Col Solare in Washington, where he served as winemaker from 2003–2013. That decade gave him direct exposure to vineyard expression, vintage variation, and the pace of decision-making that defines the cellar. In 2013, he joined Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, where he remains winemaker today.

The Work Today

Restraint is the operating principle in Marcus Notaro’s work at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. He describes the target plainly: “The style of wine I want to craft favors balance and complexity, richness and elegance and captures the unique characteristics of the vineyard.” The goal is not volume for its own sake, but structure, clarity, and enough detail for the site to register in the glass. That means wines with texture and lift, shaped to keep vineyard character visible.

Signature

The wines most associated with Marcus Notaro sit inside the Cabernet Sauvignon register, but they are handled with a focus on precision rather than force. His signature wines include CASK 23, S.L.V. Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, FAY Cabernet Sauvignon, and ARTEMIS Cabernet Sauvignon. Under his direction, the emphasis stays on dimension and site expression, with vineyard character kept at the center of the frame.

In Their Words “With each vintage I learn more about how Cabernet Sauvignon expresses itself in the unique microclimates on the FAY and S.L.V. Estate vineyards.” “The style of wine I want to craft favors balance and complexity, richness and elegance and captures the unique characteristics of the vineyard.”

Acclaim

Marcus Notaro’s own language points to an approach grounded in observation. “With each vintage I learn more about how Cabernet Sauvignon expresses itself in the unique microclimates on the FAY and S.L.V. Estate vineyards.” That kind of statement tracks with a winemaking practice built on accumulation: reading the vineyard, adjusting to the vintage, and refining the work over time. The recognition here is in consistency—keeping balance, complexity, richness and elegance in the same wine without losing the line to site.