Sonoma Coast’s New Style of High-Acid Chardonnays
Sonoma Coast producers are embracing a new style of Chardonnay driven by complexity and acidity.
USA, Sonoma: Wayfarer
"This is unquestionably a winery to start following."
– Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate
Wayfarer Vineyard: Winery of the Year | 2015
Winery of the Year 2015, Doug Wilder, pdwr
The Extremists of the Extreme Sonoma Coast
The Fort Ross-Seaview AVA may be only three years old, but its ability to produce distinctive and thrilling wines has been recognized for far longer
Press
Spring 2023 Release Letter
April 2023
Wayfarer awarded 100 Points for The Traveler 2019 Pinot Noir
JebDunnuck.com,
July 2021
Reviews
Wine
2020 Chardonnay Cuvée Cleo
2019 Chardonnay Cuvée Cleo
98+ points
2020 CC JD
Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com, August 2022
The 2020 Chardonnay Cuvée Cleo takes on more depth, with orange flower, pineapple, and beeswax. Up front, the palate is ripe with golden orchard fruit and apricot, as well as orange peel and a hint of warming spice. The palate is full and opulent, with a suspended yet clean texture, making this an incredibly elegant and profound wine. Drink it over the next 10 or more years.
99 points
2019 CC JD
Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, July 2021
The 2019 Chardonnay Cuvée Cleo is a smaller production release that's a cellar selection of the best Chardonnay on the estate. Its style is more tight, closed, and mineral-driven compared to the Wayfarer Vineyard release, but it offers similar orchard fruits, chalky minerality, white flowers, and toasty nuances. Brilliant on the palate as well, it's medium to full-bodied, with a terrific spine of acidity, flawless balance, and brilliant length on the finish. This is a spectacular wine on all accounts and I suspect the white of the vintage. It too will benefit from a year or so in bottle and cruise for a good decade.
