2024 Wayfarer Pinot Noir
'The Estate'

Tasting Notes

The 2024 Wayfarer Pinot Noir ‘The Estate’ opens with generous aromatics of cherry, violet, raspberry purée, and the scent of sunshine on forest floor.  The wine expresses both energy and gravitas with tart cranberry, cedar, rose petal, and spice.  Finely grained tannins carry great presence on the palate and culminate in a long finish.  While the rich aromas hint at the warm days of the 2024 vintage, the cooler-than-average nights are captured in this Pinot Noir’s bright acidity and crunchy fruit. 

Winemaking Notes

Each block was harvested by hand at night, with firm, cool clusters delivered to the winery before sunrise. The fruit was hand-sorted and fully destemmed before being gently elevated by conveyor into stainless steel tanks for five to six days of cold maceration.  Fermentation was carried out by native yeast; the cap was punched down by hand, with frequency and technique guided by tasting each tank daily.  Exclusively free-run wine aged in 228L French oak barrels, 43% new, for 15 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

Vintage Notes

The 2024 Wayfarer wines are the product of an even, warm vintage that brought all components into balance, yielding great complexity, texture and depth.  Rainfall was moderate throughout the cool winter months and into early spring, replenishing the vines without saturating the soil.  Bloom occurred on schedule in late May, and warm weather continued throughout June and July, leading to even veraison during the first week of August.  Harvest was also right on schedule, lasting from September 5th to the 30th.  While peak temperatures throughout the growing season were above average, nighttime temperatures dipped lower than usual – the greatest diurnal shift on record at Wayfarer.  This pronounced daily temperature swing developed intense flavors, bringing great character and structure to the wines, while maintaining a vibrant core of acidity.  The vintage also brought more coastal wind than usual, which thickened the grape skins and focused the vines’ energy on berry development, deepening the nuance and density of the wines.  Open and generous now, the 2024s will age gracefully over the next ten years. 

Blocks

Clones

Dijon 115, 667 & 777, Hyde, Mount Eden, Pommard 4 & 5, Swan, Wayfarer