Expect lemon curd, green apple, white peach, baking spice, oyster shell minerality, and refined oak with medium body, taut texture, and bright acidity from extreme coastal fruit. The 2019 California vintage was excellent.
- Varietal
- Chardonnay
- Region
- USA / California / Sonoma County / Fort Ross-Seaview (note: database lists "Sonoma Valley" — Wayfarer's estate is in Fort Ross-Seaview AVA along the far Sonoma Coast, not Sonoma Valley)
- Body
- Medium
- Style
- dry white, cool-climate, structured, age-worthy
The producer
Wayfarer Vineyard is a single-estate Pinot and Chardonnay producer at the Wayfarer Vineyard in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA — one of California's coolest and most extreme coastal sites, just two miles from the Pacific. The Jackson Family Wines portfolio. Helen Keplinger has served as winemaker.
What critics say
Wayfarer Chardonnays consistently receive scores in the mid- to high-90s and are regarded as benchmark cool-climate California whites.
Pairing
Raw oysters, grilled fish with herbs, butter-poached scallops