2021 Wayfarer Pinot Noir The Estate Fort Ross-Seaview 750 ml

Helen Turley didn’t mince words: We could be looking at “the future La Tâche of California,” she told Jayson Pahlmeyer in 1998, as they looked out over Wayfarer Farm. And when Pahlmeyer saw the rolling hills and felt the Goldridge soils in his hands, he snapped up the property. 

Fast forward to July 2023, when Lisa Perrotti-Brown—most recently Editor in Chief at Wine Advocate—declared, “In 2021, the [Wayfarer] vineyard was clearly firing on all cylinders. These are some of the finest Pinots and Chardonnays coming out of Sonoma." 

That’s why the dual 96-point 2021 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Estate is such a phenomenal bottle. This level of pedigree and perfectionism generally goes for HUNDREDS of dollars in Burgundy, and at least $150 or more here in California. It’s on the level of Marcassin, which is just down the road and goes for $350. 

Wayfarer is so rare and improbable. It starts with a perfectly exposed, remote site in the Coast Range—the same kind that moved David Hirsch to create Hirsch Vineyard and Helen Turley to plant Marcassin Vineyard nearby. Add a palette of the finest Pinot Noir clones, planted by David Abreu (and including a small-berried suitcase clone from Burgundy), plus the passion and fanaticism of Jayson Pahlmeyer and his daughter Cleo. When all of these factors fall into place, the results are truly works of art.

The wine’s dual 96-point scores from both James Suckling and Lisa Perrotti-Brown put it in the same class as Kistler’s 2021 Laguna Ridge ($180) and Aubert’s 2021 UV Vineyard ($165). Lisa Perrotti-Brown loved its “electric tension and impressive purity.” It’s the perfect bottle for anyone looking to burnish their Sonoma Coast Pinot collection.