2018 Pahlmeyer Wayfarer Vineyard Pinot Noir Estate
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Hand-picked clusters delivered to the winery before sunrise. Fruit hand-sorted and destemmed before transfer to tank where five to seven days of cold maceration preceded more than two weeks of 100% ambient-yeast fermentation. The free-run wine was transferred to French oak (58% new) for 15 months. Rich nose and then fairly sweet fruit. Was this picked just slightly too ripe, I wonder? I’m looking for just a little more freshness. And there’s a bit of heat on the end. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard has a medium ruby color and slowly opening perfume of garrigue, dried orange peel, prosciutto and rose petals with mineral-laced cranberry and red and black berry fruits. The medium-bodied palate, grainy and incredibly fresh, slowly gains in flavor amplitude and nuance in the mouth, ending in a fanfare of spicy detail.
Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2018 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard was just about completely destemmed and spent 15 months in 58% new French oak. This deeper ruby/purple-hued effort offers an awesome bouquet of black raspberries, scorched earth, toasted spices, and flowery incense. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and a stunning effort. It also happens to be made in terrific quantities, with just over 1,600 cases produced. Bravo!
The 2018 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard is bright, precise and wonderfully nuanced. Sweet red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and mint give the 2018 striking inner sweetness and perfume. Pliant, silky and inviting, the 2018 has so much to offer. Even in the early going, the 2018 is a delicate, absolutely exquisite beauty.