2014 Chardonnay Wayfarer Vineyard

This is a beautiful set of 2021s from Wayfarer. Winemaker Todd Kohn certainly got the most out of the year. The Pinots are all beautifully delineated and also surprisingly expressive, given that these wines were bottled just a few weeks before my tasting. As always, the Paige’s Ridge is a bit different from the other Pinots in the range, as it is fermented in a wood upright rather than tank. As good as the Pinot Noirs are, the Chardonnays are equally impressive. Pinot might be the most visible grape on the West Sonoma Coast, but there are plenty of people who believe that Chardonnay has the greatest potential here. Wayfarer’s 2021 Chardonnays provide plenty of support for that view.

Winemaker Todd Kohn describes 2019 as a year with a very wet May and the very little rain for the rest of the season. Rain affected bloom and set for the Pinots, lowering yields across the board. May rain was not an issue for Chardonnay, which develops later here. The Wayfarer Pinots are rich, layered wines that capture the rugged nature of this coastal site. Whole cluster influence is minimal. Readers will note the addition of a new Chardonnay, the Cuvée Cleo, which is all Wente Clone fruit done in 100% new oak.

These are two fabulous vintages from Wayfarer that show just how special the property is. In 2018, the harvest took place between September 23 and October 14, which is three weeks later than 2018. Winemaker Todd Kohn opted for a bit of whole cluster inclusion, whereas the 2017s were made with mostly destemmed fruit. In 2017, the estate dealt with heat spikes, as did everyone else, and sustained temperatures throughout the year. In tasting, though, what comes through is a deep expression of place in both years. It will be interesting to see where the property goes now that the Pahlmeyers have sold their Napa Valley winery. These wines point to a brilliant future.

These are two fabulous vintages from Wayfarer that show just how special the property is. In 2018, the harvest took place between September 23 and October 14, which is three weeks later than 2018. Winemaker Todd Kohn opted for a bit of whole cluster inclusion, whereas the 2017s were made with mostly destemmed fruit. In 2017, the estate dealt with heat spikes, as did everyone else, and sustained temperatures throughout the year. In tasting, though, what comes through is a deep expression of place in both years. It will be interesting to see where the property goes now that the Pahlmeyers have sold their Napa Valley winery. These wines point to a brilliant future.

This is a positively stellar set of new releases from Wayfarer. Todd Kohn, previously the Assistant Winemaker here, has moved into the Winemaker role following the departure of Bibiana González Rave. From their debut, Wayfarer has been one of the most intriguing estates on the far Sonoma Coast. It will be interesting to see where things go with Kohn at the helm.

It's a good news-bad news scenario at Wayfarer this year. The 2015s are absolutely brilliant. That much is obvious. The problem is that yields were punishingly low to the point that the estate bottled only one of their Pinot Noir selections. All the rest of the fruit went into the straight Wayfarer Pinot. Wayfarer remains one of the most promising young estates on the Sonoma coast. Winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez-Rave clearly has the magic touch here.

Cleo Pahlmeyer has made a number of important decisions in the last few years as she guides her family's business into its second generation. One of the recent changes has been focusing the Pahlmeyer brand exclusively on Napa Valley wines and eliminating the overlap that previously existed between the Pahlmeyer Sonoma wines and Wayfarer. The Pahlmeyers own one of the finest estates on the Sonoma Coast, so that move makes a lot of sense. The 2014s at Wayfarer are less brilliant than the 2012s and 2013s, which suggests the vintage was not without its challenges. At times, the Wayfarer wines feel too safe, almost too engineered. That was probably exactly what was needed to get Wayfarer off the ground, but it may be time for a little more intuition and less technique. There is something quintessentially wild about the Sonoma Coast that can't really be fully tamed.

These new and upcoming releases from Wayfarer confirm all the promise I sensed last year. Simply put, the wines are stunning. Cleo Pahlmeyer and winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez-Rave are doing magnificent work here. Wayfarer makes five different Pinots; the Wayfarer is meant to be a representation of the entire property, while the other bottlings explore the unique attributes of a number of single parcels on the estate. At the moment, there is only one Chardonnay, but I would not be surprised to see more bottlings here as well, as this location on the Sonoma Coast can produce dazzling whites. Stylistically, the wines are racy and textured, but not as ripe as the Pahlmeyer Russian River wines. The Pinots are typically made with some percentage of whole clusters. These are some of the most striking wines being made on the Sonoma Coast and California today.

Jayson Pahlmeyer purchased Wayfarer Vineyard in 1999 at the urging of Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer. The property sits in the new Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, just two ridges away from the Pacific. David Abreu planted the first vineyards in 2001. For the first few years the fruit from Wayfarer was blended into the Pahlmeyer wines, but beginning in 2012 the Wayfarer wines are being bottled separately. So far, there are three Pinots and one Chardonnay, but I am told there may be more wines in the near future. Cleo Pahlmeyer, Jayson's daughter, continues her strategy to differentiate the family's Sonoma and Napa wines. The Napa wines continue to be made by Kale Anderson, while the Sonoma wines are now made by Bibiana Gonzalez-Rave. The proof is in the pudding, and certainly this greater focus seems to be paying dividends. Simply put, the new Wayfarer wines are brilliant. Bibiana Gonzalez-Rave, the super-talented Colombian winemaker whom I have written about in the past, uses a bit of a lighter touch, including less overt oak influence at Wayfarer than she does with the Pahmleyer Pinots and Chardonnays, where the style is a bit more laid back than in the past, but still respectful of the Helen Turley/Erin Green legacy. Within the context of Sonoma Coast Pinot, the Wayfarer wines are textured, deep and intense, but not at all heavy. No detail has been overlooked, so it is hardly a surprise to see how well these wines have turned out. Today, there are a lot of new projects on the Sonoma Coast. Wayfarer is easily among the most exciting.