Marine Layer Wines

Lyra Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — The flagship coastal blend from estate and partner sites (Jeb Dunnuck 94).

Marine Layer Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sebastopol Hills — The estate single-vineyard Pinot, hand-farmed on a southwest slope.

Gravenstein Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast — A distinctive bottling of black cherry, orange peel, and cinnamon.

Aries Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast — The coastal Chardonnay blend in a bright, cool-climate style.

Marine Layer Vineyard Chardonnay, Sebastopol Hills — The estate Chardonnay from a one-acre Wente-clone block.

Marine Layer Wines is a longtime project of Baron Ziegler — the entrepreneur who founded Banshee Wines — and his friend and collaborator Rob Fischer, who joined him at Banshee and stayed on as Marine Layer's winemaker. The name pays homage to the thick blanket of Pacific fog that defines the Sonoma Coast viticultural identity; the label's mission, in Fischer's words, is "letting the soul of the vineyards shine through in the wine." The portfolio centers on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from sites along the cool-climate corridor of the coast — Petaluma Gap, Gap's Crown, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Mountain, Green Valley, Sebastopol Hills, and the area around Occidental. The estate Marine Layer Vineyard, six acres on a southwest-facing slope in the Sebastopol Hills, is planted to Wente-clone Chardonnay alongside Calera, Mount Eden, 667, 115, and suitcase-selection Pinot Noir on Goldridge sandy loam.

The tasting room, at 308 B Center Street just off the Healdsburg Plaza, opened in September 2021 with a deliberately modern, coastal-influenced design — layered textures, warm earth tones, rich blues — and a relaxed pace that matches the wines. Two seated tastings rotate through five-wine flights: a Single Vineyard Exploration walking through three sub-AVAs of the Sonoma Coast, and an Appellation Exploration broadening into the diversity of California cool-climate sites. Walk-ins are welcome based on availability; reservations recommended. Tasting fees are $40 per person and waived with membership. Open daily 11:30 AM – 7 PM. The room also functions as a wine bar — guests without time for a full tasting can take a seat at the bar for a glass and a few small bites.

A Napa native, Rob Fischer began his career more than two decades ago in the Domaine Carneros tasting room, where curiosity about the science of the cellar took hold. He went on to make more than thirty varieties across Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, the Sierra Foothills, Oregon, and both islands of New Zealand, discovering a passion for cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With longtime friend Baron Ziegler he co-founded Banshee Wines, and after its 2017 sale the two launched Marine Layer — named for the Pacific fog that defines the Sonoma Coast — with a first vintage in 2018. Fischer crafts small-lot, hand-harvested wines, some as tiny as four barrels, from an estate vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills and storied sites like Gap's Crown, Charles Heintz, and Durell. 'The science is undeniable,' he says, 'but walking the vineyards and tasting the fruit — that's an art form.'

Marine Layer is the longtime dream of Baron Ziegler. After co-founding Banshee Wines with his friend, winemaker Rob Fischer — and selling it to Foley in 2018 — Ziegler set out to make pristine, cool-climate wines devoted entirely to the Sonoma Coast. He launched Marine Layer with the 2018 vintage, sourcing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from storied sites such as Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Charles Heintz, and acquired an estate vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills. Named for the Pacific fog that defines the coast, the brand opened its downtown Healdsburg tasting room in 2021. Ziegler remains the creative force at its helm.