In 1998, Helen Turley, then winemaker for Jayson Pahlmeyer, discovered a 30-acre site down the road from her Marcassin vineyard on a remote Fort Ross-Seaview ridge and told Pahlmeyer it was destined to become "the La Tâche of California." Pahlmeyer bought it. The estate's program was established by acclaimed winemaker Bibiana González Rave, and winemaker Todd Kohn has crafted the wines since the 2018 vintage: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of extraordinary density and coastal intensity from Goldridge soils at elevations of 1,100–1,500 feet. Production is extremely limited, allocation by mailing list.
The Estate Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview: the flagship, a single-vineyard Pinot from the dramatic coastal ridge, earning dual 96-point scores and comparisons to the great Sonoma Coast estates.
Paige's Ridge Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview: a single-block bottling (named for Paige Pahlmeyer) with red and black berry fruit and a firm tannic backbone.
The Estate Chardonnay, Fort Ross-Seaview: bright and saline with citrus and creamy vanilla, structured to age as well as the Pinots.
Wayfarer is a remote 30-acre estate on a King Ridge perch in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. Cleo Pahlmeyer founded the label in 2012, and the first estate wines were released in 2014. Single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay only.
The Healdsburg tasting room opened in July 2024 in a renovated Grove Street building that now houses both winemaking and hospitality. The wines themselves come from a 30-acre organically farmed estate in Fort Ross-Seaview, a ridge 1,200 feet above the Pacific, surrounded by redwoods and planted on Goldridge sandy loam that was once ancient seabed. David Abreu designed the vineyard as 30 one-acre blocks, each dedicated to a single clonal selection. The flagship Estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are joined by small Block Selection bottlings (Mother Rock, Golden Mean, Paige's Ridge, The Traveler, Cuvée Cleo) that showcase individual clones and micro-parcels. Guided tastings run about 90 minutes: the Portfolio Tasting at $75 per person and the Estate Tasting at $125 per person. Tastings by appointment Thursday to Monday.
