2016 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Fort Ross-Seaview California USA
$124.99 USD
Winemaker Notes
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.
Press
Rated 97 points Jeb Dunnuck
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.
Rated 95 points Wine Enthusiast
This estate-grown beauty is succulent and supple, with a tense body of bright wild strawberry, crushed rock, dried lavender and Asian spice. Robustly rich and deeply layered in flavor and texture, it finishes in a gorgeous dabble of white pepper. (VB)
Rated 94 points James Suckling
This offers exceptional detail in terms of aromas and flavors with a ripe array of red cherries, framed in seductively spicy oak and fresh, youthful, meaty notes. There’s a long, plush and succulent feel to the palate with elegant, fine-grained tannins, delivered in silky and regal style. Impressive precision.
Rated 94 points Vinous
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. (AG)