Greg La Follette is the founder and winemaker for Marchelle Wines in Sonoma, CA. Greg is renowned as a “vine whisperer” and “cellar magician,” and he brings a rare blend of science, soul, and storytelling to winemaking. A former seminarian and AIDS researcher with degrees in Plant Biology and Chemistry, Greg earned his master’s in Food Science & Technology at UC Davis, where he became obsessed with decoding the chemistry of texture and mouthfeel—especially in Burgundian-style Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
In 1991, he joined Beaulieu Vineyards under the mentorship of California wine legend André Tchelistcheff, who challenged him to move beyond research and into the heart and soul of wine. Greg took that to heart, building decades-long partnerships with growers across California and worldwide.
Greg has designed 14 wineries globally and helped launch La Crema, Hartford Court, and the cult-favorite Flowers Winery. He later led winemaking at DeLoach, founded Tandem Wines, and created the eponymous La Follette Wines. Today, he co-leads Marchelle Wines, where he continues his pursuit of expressive old-vine wines rooted in thoughtful farming and deep collaboration.
Media Inquiries: greg@marchellewines.com | https://www.marchellewines.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
The brand Marchelle is a culmination of 41 years and 68 harvests (working up to 3 harvests a year on both sides of the equator) of Greg’s career, with a record of building brands, planning the planting of thousands of acres of vineyards across several continents and putting a few in himself with his own hands. Built on mentorship with some of the best minds in the wine world such as Andre Tchelistcheff, Marchelle is the pinnacle of the decades Greg has spent learning and honing his craft. Now partnering with his managing partner Kevin Lee and his protege Evan Damiano, to whom he gratefully passed the torch of winemaking, we have dedicated our brand to honoring the land, our friends, and our families.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
If I were unconstrained for money, time and health, I would follow old vine vineyards to my heart’s content. I would spend my time in our estate and our growers’ vineyards doing precise vineyard techniques myself, with my own hands. I have always wanted to horse-plow my vineyards, taking care of and working the land myself, but my current health situation allows me to only work with limited time and tasks, including in the winery. I now have to rely on young, strong backs to do the work I crave and if I had a magic wand or a genie, I would wish myself the health and vitality to do these things again. That being said, I still consider myself the luckiest man I know. I’ve had a good career with no regrets and great friends to show for it all.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
To be honest, my desert island wine is the wine my wife loves best. She has many favorites: the Manchester Ridge Chardonnay with its floral lilt, the van der Kamp Pinot Meunier with its carbonic maceration opulence, but the wine she loves the most right now is the 2022 Harmony Lane Estate Pinot. Mara and I were vineyard managers for this vintage, living on the vineyard after our house burned down in Sonoma County. we did much of the vineyard work ourselves, along with our kids’ childhood friend Jackson McCormickand our winemaker Evan Damiano. A lot of love and care went into this wine, living on the land and tending the vines before bringing the grapes lovingly into the cellar. Read my review of the Harmony Lane Pinot.
Bonus Question: What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business?
The consolidation of small wineries with the consumption of their assets and the ejection of their people will be the ruination of wine country society because entire neighborhoods will soon be terrorized by roving packs of starving winemakers. I hate it to see a winemaker by the roadside with a sign “will work for Chardonnay” – it should at least be “for Pinot noir”!