Cleo Pahlmeyer's Pinot Passion Project Has Become the Main Attraction
On the West Sonoma Coast frontier, Wayfarer's fruit-driven Pinot Noirs stand out
On the West Sonoma Coast frontier, Wayfarer's fruit-driven Pinot Noirs stand out
These are wines of amazing grace without sacrificing structure and layers.
Vinous Live! with Antonio Galloni and Cleo Pahlmeyer
Bright and sculpted, with terrific energy, the 2022 sizzles with tension. Crushed flowers, sweet red/purplish fruit, mint, chalk, and crushed rocks abound. This nervy, taut Pinot is terrific. The 2022 is understated and beautifully precise, with tons of definition and fine persistence.
The 2021 Pinot Noir Golden Mean is glossy and expressive this vintage. It comes from Pommard and Swan selection vines planted on east- and west-facing slopes, respectively. It begins with ringing tones of truffle, moss, allspice, cranberry and red cherry aromatics. The light-bodied palate is velvety and refreshing with a surprisingly concentrated core of perfumed fruit, and it has an expansive finish streaked with nuances of spice and earth.
The 2019 Pinot Noir Golden Mean is similarly ruby-hued yet offers a more mineral, savory, iron-laced style as well as beautiful strawberry and raspberry fruit, medium-bodied richness, and building yet ripe, polished tannins that carry through the finish. The purity and precision on this puppy are something, and as with the other 2019s here, short-term cellaring is the name of the game.
"Incorporating a touch of stems (10%), the 2018 Pinot Noir Golden Mean reveals a slightly translucent ruby color as well as a great bouquet of mulled raspberries, flowery incense, iodine, and spiced orange. Tight and focused on the palate, with good concentration, it has a stunning sense of precision and elegance as well as length. It's another thrill a minute from this team that should be snatched up by readers!"
"The 2017 Pinot Noir Golden Mean is a mix of Pommard and Swan clone with 10% whole clusters, an approach that yields a compelling combination of juicy fruit and exotic aromatics. Black cherry, plum, licorice, menthol, lavender and spice are some of the notes that burst out of the glass. This is such a complex and nuanced Pinot. In a word: Stellar."
“The 2016 Pinot Noir Golden Mean comes mostly from the Swan clone yet includes plenty of Pommard as well. The cuvée comes from two parcels in the estate vineyard, is cofermented (with around 10% whole cluster), and spent 15 months in 67% new French oak. It offers a more black fruited style with a huge nose of black cherries, scorched earth, charcoal, and just a hint of exotic flowers. Medium-bodied, rich, and structured, it’s another wine that builds with time in the glass. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following decade.”
Dark, brooding cinnamon and fleshy black plum provide an exciting, complex counterpoint to the rakish earthiness and exotic Asian spice going on in this full-bodied, explosively compelling wine, its minerality lingering. It’s young and still tightly coiled, with lingering minerality; let it open to enjoy now, but it would show best after some time, so cellar through 2024.
Lightening acidity here with vibrant and ripe fruit that gives depth and beauty. Wonderful verve to this well-crafted pinot. Such energy. Drink or hold.
Crafted from estate-grown fruit—a marriage of Pommard and Swan clones—Golden Mean comes from three distinct vineyard blocks, the Pommard fermented whole-cluster. It
opens with dark, ripe layers of lush cherry-vanilla, the wine concentrated and rich in oak yet balanced in acidity. On the finish is a mix of leather, licorice and wild herb. Tuck it away through 2020–2022.