WAYFARER VINEYARDS 2021 VINTAGE NEW RELEASES FROM THE TRUE SONOMA COAST AND VINTAGE WINES FROM WAYFARER ON SALE!!
"Now wines are wonders; great wines are magical; and winemakers are mad. Like horse fanciers, they are always trying to improve the breed." - William E. Massee
We are constantly trying to improve what we do here at the Wine Bar, and we have some great new menu items for the private dining on the cave on Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights.
We will take up to 15 people but will accept as few as 6 for a curated dinner by Chef Toni. We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!! You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave.
They have been on a constant path of improvement at Wayfarer Winery and when Jayson Pahlmeyer started out in 1986, he had no winery and no vineyards but was determined to make one of California’s best wines and one that would stand up to the best of those made in Burgundy France and the rest of the world.
I was happy to accept the Pahlmeyer family’s invitation to visit the Wayfarer Vineyard in August of 2013 and it worked out perfectly for me as I was already out on the west coast for the Washington State Wine Auction. It was great to visit the Fort Ross Seaview appellation with one of the state’s best ocean side resorts Tamber Cove. This place was a throwback in time, one of the most unique establishments that I have ever visited and the only place to have a group stay that is coming out to visit the vineyards here on the true Sonoma Coast.
The story of the Wayfarer Vineyards begins with Helen Turley as winemaker for Pahlmeyer in the early day she found this property for Jayson. It was an organic farm one of the most northern vineyard m the Fort Ross Ava. They are in a warm spot in a cold area. David Abreu planted the vineyard in 2002 and they are two ridge lines in from the ocean so to say the least extreme growing conditions. In 2011 the Fort Ross AVA was approved all of which is above 900 foot elevation and is right on the ocean.
The vineyard here is planted with a very tight density 6 x 3 as opposed to 8 x 10. More concentrated fruit is the result. It is 30 acres broken down to 30 blocks of 1 acre each. They are on 3 main ridges they used three different root stocks because of the different flavor profiles because of the temperatures in the vineyards. They have several different clones on the property and these are the first releases from this exciting new label from this extreme growing region.
Wayfarer is one of the most exciting new projects to come out in the world of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Check out all the new releases along with a special offering of Library wines.
A bit about the outstanding 2021 harvest from Wayfarer vineyards:
The outstanding 2021 harvest was a dry, warm, even vintage, giving us wines with great intensity and harmony. Though we experienced record-low rainfall of 20 inches, a long way from our 65-inch average, it was plenty to fill our pond and irrigate our vines throughout the season. Budbreak occurred on the early side due to an unusually dry, warm winter, and this early trend continued throughout the season. Spring and summer remained dry and warm, though temperatures never spiked. This consistency, along with bountiful sunlight, allowed for even ripening across the vineyard. It was a smooth growing season and an ideal harvest, with all fruit picked at just the right moment and coming into the winery in a steady stream. The wines are remarkably dense and complex, with lots of structure, energy and delicate aromatics.
2021 Vintage New Releases from the True Sonoma Coast
2021 2WAYFARER CHARDONNAY WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $97.50 Your Price: $85.80
(98 points) The 2021 Chardonnay The Estate is delightfully decadent and almost feels like a guilty pleasure—it's so packed with flavor! It has gregarious aromatic layers of warm peach, summer honey, candied citrus and wafts of allspice. The medium-bodied palate is luxuriously satiny and features expansive, concentrated flavors. Despite its generosity, it maintains balance with bright acidity, and it has an epically long finish. (EB) (6/2023) Wine Advocate
2021 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WF2 FORT ROSS SEA VIEW
Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88
The 2021 jumps from the glass with notes of fresh rose, black currant, blackberry, blood orange, crushed earth, soy sauce, allspice and strawberry fields. A linear palate focuses on freshly picked strawberries and blackberries at the peak of ripeness, layered with decadent dark chocolate mousse. There is a beautiful persistence to this multifaceted Pinot Noir.
2021 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW MAGNUM
Price: $228.0 Your Price: $200.64
2021 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR FORT ROSS SEAVIEW WAYFARER VINEYARD
Price: $100.50 Your Price: $88.44
(95 Points) The 2021 Pinot Noir The Estate has inviting aromas of cranberry sauce, mushroom, allspice and bitters. The palate's concentrated, nuanced fruit is structured by focused acidity and generous, powdery tannins, and it finishes with a flourish of spicy accents. It's drinking beautifully now and will develop savory complexity in bottle over the next decade. Wine Advocate, June 2023
2021 WAYFARER MOTHER ROCK PINOT NOIR SONOMA
Price: $150.00 Your Price: $132.00
This deep ruby-colored cuvée of Pinot Noir clones 37 and Dijon 777 is named for the sandstone substrate that runs under our Wayfarer Vineyard, urging our vines to burrow deeply into the distinctive terrain below. Red fruit aromas of strawberry and Bing cherry interweave with hints of violet, rhubarb and spice, accented by notes of minerality. The entry on the palate is soft and focused, with flavors of raspberry, boysenberry, and mint chocolate. Well-integrated tannins support the fruit characters over a lingering finish. Allow this wine to rest in the cellar, as it will age beautifully over the next 3+ years
2021 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR GOLDEN MEAN FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $150.00 Your Price: $132.00
(96 Points) Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate, June 2023 The 2021 Pinot Noir Golden Mean is glossy and expressive this vintage. It comes from Pommard and Swan selection vines planted on east- and west-facing slopes, respectively. It begins with ringing tones of truffle, moss, allspice, cranberry and red cherry aromatics. The light-bodied palate is velvety and refreshing with a surprisingly concentrated core of perfumed fruit, and it has an expansive finish streaked with nuances of spice and earth.
Golden Mean is a mathematical term for the beautiful middle between two opposites, and this wine is so named because it is a blend of two distinctive clonal selections, Swan and Pommard. The Swan clone shines first with opening notes of delicate rose petals, strawberries, cranberries and a hint of violets, followed by more robust Pommard aromas of brambly blackberries fresh off the vine, with hints of iron and blood orange. The palate showcases an ethereal entry from the Swan and ends with the sublime texture of Pommard, but it’s impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. This wine isn’t just a beautiful middle – it’s more than the sum of its parts.
Winemaking Notes Each block was picked by hand at night, and firm, cool clusters were delivered to the winery before sunrise. We hand-sorted and destemmed the fruit before transferring it into stainless steel tanks for five to ten days of cold maceration. Fermentation was guided by native yeast, and hand punch downs were tailored to how each tank tasted each day. The free run wine aged in French oak barrels, 43% new, for 15 months.
Blocks 5, 20 Clones Pommard 4, Swan
2021 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR THE TRAVELER FORT ROSS SEAVIEW
Price: $180.00 Your Price: $158.40
(98 Points) Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck, July 2023 Coming from one east-facing and one west-facing block of deeper soils and made from suitcase clones, the 2021 Pinot Noir The Traveler is a little more wound up initially in terms of its aromatics, with red berries, dusty earth, and blood orange. The most lifted and driving of the wines from Wayfarer, it has a fresh spine of acidity, beautiful pure fruit of grenadine, notes of toasted spice, and a super-long finish. This is mouthwatering with saline and freshness that will be outstanding over the next 15 or more years. My favorite of the Wayfarer reds, it’s a brilliant wine.
All the older vintage wines from Wayfarer Vineyard on SALE!
2020 WAYFARER CHARDONNAY WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $97.00 Your Price: $85.36 Quantity in Stock: 9
The 2020 Chardonnay has copious energy. Notes of lemon tart, honeysuckle, tangerine and pear emerge from the glass. Over time, elements of orange blossom, white peach, chamomile and a touch of flintiness evolve. The wine enters the palate with a rush of freshness reminiscent of the Northern California coast. An abundance of lively acidity complements the rich, deep texture, and the finish is marked by persistent, refreshing minerality.
(96 Points) The 2020 Chardonnay Wayfarer Vineyard has pretty scents of baked apples, beeswax, roasted almonds and toast. The medium-bodied palate has a satiny texture and layered, savory flavors balanced by refreshing acidity, and it finishes long and flavorful. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2019 WAYFARER CHARDONNAY WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $97.50 Your Price: $85.80 Quantity in Stock: 2
(97 Points) A beautiful, Burgundian nose of orchard fruits, white flowers, chalky minerality, and honeysuckle emerge from the 2019 Chardonnay Wayfarer Vineyard, a riveting, pure, flawlessly balanced Chardonnay that shines on all accounts. Picking up a kiss of green almond and toast with time in the glass, it has beautifully integrated acidity, a layered, rich yet light on its feet mouthfeel, and a great finish. This is just about as good as it gets in 2019 with regards to Chardonnay. Give bottles a year or two in the cellar and enjoy through 2032. Jeb Dunnuck
2020 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WF2 FORT ROSS SEA VIEW
List Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88 Quantity in Stock: 22
The 2020 vintage opens with aromas of vibrant dark fruit, blueberry and blackberry compote, subtle forest floor and savory earth. Delicious pomegranate enters the palate, at once refreshing, dense and powerful. Rich notes of dark chocolate round out the finish. Enjoy as the wine continues to open in the glass.
2019 WAYFARER MOTHER ROCK PINOT NOIR SONOMA
List Price: $135.00 Your Price: $118.80 Quantity in Stock: 1
Raspberry, pomegranate, rose and violet seduce the nose. The silky tannins are rich and creamy, yet incredibly focused, as they play beautifully with the juiciness of the wine. Mineral, chalky notes of powdered cacao linger on the finish. The 2019 Mother Rock is a glorious expression of the Dijon 777 and Mount Eden clones.
2019 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR GOLDEN MEAN FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $135.00 Your Price: $118.80 Quantity in Stock: 1
Opening with notes of forest floor and blood orange, the aromas expand to strawberry and blackberry with hints of rose petal and caraway seed. Plush tannins envelop the palate and flavors of violet and raspberry abound. Earthy undertones and baking spice add to the complexity and intrigue, leading to a lengthy finish.
2018 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW SONOMA
Price: $100.50 Your Price: $88.44 Quantity in Stock: 1
Explosive aromatics of violets, lavender, raspberry and blackberry abound as the 2018 Wayfarer Vineyard Pinot Noir opens in the glass. An elegant dance of juicy acidity and rich tannin play on the fresh palate, with notes of forest floor and dark chocolate on the finish. This is a vintage that will oblige early consumption, but given time in the cellar, patience will be handsomely rewarded.
2014 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW SONOMA MAGNUM
Price: $234.00 Your Price: $205.92 Quantity in Stock: 1
This rich and harmonious cuvee of our 12 Pinot Noir clones showcases Wayfarer’s vibrant spectrum of single-vineyard, estate-grown fruit and a distinctive minerality. A deep iridescent ruby, the wine interweaves aromas of sun-drench blackberry, wild strawberry and dark cherry with fresh notes of forest floor and sea salt, followed with savory prosciutto and baking spice. A supple entry leads to a generous mid-palate flush with juicy summer berries and fine sweet tannins. Rich and elegant yet focused, the wine takes it time as it finishes with sweet notes of lemon peel and lightly roasted coffee. Beguiling upon release, this wine will continue to evolve over the next 10 years.
2013 WAYFARER PINOT NOIR WAYFARER VINEYARD FORT ROSS SEAVIEW MAGNUM
Price: $234.00 Your Price: $205.92 Quantity in Stock: 2
This rich and harmonious cuvee of 12 Pinot Noir clones beautifully showcases Wayfarer’s vibrant spectrum of single-vineyard, estate-grown fruit. The wine is a dazzling deep ruby color that leads with heady aromas of wild blackcurrant and freshly picked strawberry. It evolves with notes of licorice and toasted oak, finishing with an intriguing lilt of forest floor, leather, rose petal and raspberry. The bright, juicy entry evokes flavors of cranberry and cherry, harmonized with a grip of fine tannins and earthy tones of cedar and tar. The long finish surprises with its fresh minerality and intense aromatics of violet and Tahitian vanilla. Showy now with two hours of decanting at cellar temperature, watch this wine evolve beautifully with cellaring up to 15 years.
2020 WAYFARER ROSE WF2 FORT ROSS SEAVIEW
List Price: $30.00 Your Price: $26.40 Quantity in Stock: 8
White flowers, orange blossom and strawberry fields come together in the glass. The palate is elevated, with crushed raspberry, strawberry and melon dancing together before before a beautiful sea breeze sweeps them away, cleansing the palate for the next sip. We hope you enjoy without reservation.