2014 Wayfarer Chardonnay
The Estate

Tasting Notes

Luminous gold with glimmers of pale green, the 2014 Wayfarer Chardonnay booms with aromas of Meyer lemon, apricot blossom and heirloom apple, echoed by notes of lemongrass, honeysuckle and butterscotch. Generous flavors of sun-warmed white peach and crushed almond extend long and wide on the palate with a stunning underscore of wet stone minerality. The mouthfeel offers both intricacy and wholeness, it is soft and succulent, yet focused with sublime acidity. A stunning wine to enjoy in its youth, it will age beautifully for another 10–15 years.

Winemaking Notes

“With the 2014 vintage, we set a benchmark for Wayfarer Chardonnay.  We achieved an ideal combination of complexity, texture, length, and volume in this single wine.” - Bibiana González Rave, Winemaker The key to the aromatic intensity and buoyant acidity is harvesting in the pre-dawn hours on precisely the right day. We hand picked each block and delivered firm, cool clusters to the winery before sunrise. After gentle whole-cluster pressing, the wine settled for 12 to 24 hours, followed by carefully monitored racking. We transferred 65% to new French oak at medium toast levels from cooperages including Damy, François Frères, Remond and Latour. Native yeasts slowly guided alcoholic fermentation, the lees stirred frequently until malolactic fermentation was complete. The wine was aged in barrel for 15 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Vintage Notes

The 2014 season started as one of the earliest on record, well before the threats of late winter frosts had passed. Fortunately, the tender buds and shoots escaped without damage and we relaxed into an exceptionally nice spring and cool summer.  The gentle pace of the growing season afforded us time to be especially meticulous with canopy management. We farm each of our 30 blocks individually to tailor the shoot positioning and leafing, vine by vine, and specific to each clone.  Such fine-tuned farming is critical to success on the extreme Sonoma Coast, particularly for our vineyard with its great diversity of clones planted at varying elevations and exposures – east facing, west facing, north side, and south side. By the end of the growing season we have typically visited each vine a dozen times. Our 2014 wines exhibit a pronounced minerality, due in part to our Goldridge soil and sandstone mother rock, as well as cold spells throughout the year.

Blocks Map

2, 12, 17, 27, 28, 29

Clones

Mount Eden, Berlenbach Old Wente, Dijon 95, Hyde Old Wente

Critics

98 Points

Virginie Boone, Wine Enthusiast, September 2016

This is yet another stunning wine from this site, guided by the capable hands of Winemaker and Viticulturalist Bibiana González Rave, who has coaxed from it beguiling layers of complex concentration and sublime notions of tang and salt. The only white from a sea of Pinot Noir grown here, it speaks to what the extreme Sonoma Coast can bring to the variety—a celebration of lemon zest, crisp apple and brioche delicately wrapped in minerality. "Editor's Choice"

97 Points

Doug Wilder, Purely Domestic Wine Report, May 2016

Shows a nose of verbena, lime, chalk, licorice, white blossoms leveled with beautiful intensity and purity. Sublimely fresh and vibrant on palate entry, the core is enormous with pear, toast, lime, lemon, honeyed grains and chalk, finishing with crisp, mouth watering green apple. Possesses beautiful length and vitality.

94 Points

Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, Feb. 2016

The 2014 Chardonnay Wayfarer Vineyard shows just how well suited this part of the Sonoma Coast is to Chardonnay. A rich, ample wine, the 2014 boasts striking depth and overall balance. Lemon confit, white flowers, vanilla and a host of savory notes accompany the long, extended finish. This is a very polished and distinguished wine from Wayfarer.

93 Points

James Laube, Wine Spectator, April 2016

Showcases creamy tangerine-and nectarine-driven flavors, with lively acidity and a pithy citrus skin texture. The elements push through effortlessly, gaining depth and nuance along the way.

Wine Data

Winemaker:
Bibiana González Rave
Origin:
Wayfarer Vineyard, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast
Pruning:
Double Guyot
Vine Yield:
3.4 lbs per vine
Harvested:
September 03 – September 13, 2014
Bottled:
December 16, 2015
Release:
Fall 2016
Composition:
100% Chardonnay
Alcohol:
14.5%
pH:
3.33
TA:
6.3g/l
Cases Produced:
800 cases

Download Fact Sheet (567 KB)