2016 Wayfarer Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard is fabulous. Powerful and beautifully layered in the glass, it offers terrific depth of fruit allied to structure. The 2016 is incredibly tight and unyielding, which is probably a good thing for its cellaring prospects. I would not think of touching a bottle anytime soon. Today, the 2016 is primary, dense and quite concentrated. Hints of red plum fruit, floral and spice notes emerge over time, but with great reluctance.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard is medium ruby-purple with lovely red cherries, redcurrants and pomegranate notes with touches of dried herbs and forest floor. The palate is medium to full-bodied with tons of bright fruit layers and a fine-grained texture, finishing long and juicy.
Leading off the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard was completely destemmed and spent 15 months in 45% new French oak. It offers a bright framboise, cranberry, exotic flower, and spice-driven bouquet that carries to a medium-bodied, silky Pinot Noir that has everything in all the right places. Showing more floral, spice, and forest floor with time in the glass, incredible tannin quality, and a great finish, it’s certainly on par with the single parcel/clone driven releases. The big news at Wayfarer is the moving on of star winemaker Bibiana González Rave to focus on her own label and assistant winemaker Todd Kohn taking over the helm. Todd has been with Wayfarer since 2013 and certainly, along with Cleo Pahlmeyer, the vineyard and estate are in talented hand. All these 2016s were made by Bibiana, and as the notes and scores show, they’re truly sensational, world class wines.