Pahlmeyer Chardonnay 2023

Blending classic Napa Valley opulence with Burgundian-style restraint, Pahlmeyer Napa Valley Chardonnay opens with generous aromas of Meyer lemon curd, citron, toasted brioche and hints of delicate white florals. The palate offers richness up front and on the long finish, with mouth-watering mid-palate acidity and flinty wet stone characteristics giving the wine attractive depth and substantial texture. This Chardonnay delivers notes of crisp green apple, ripe nectarine and white peach that tantalizingly mingle with hints of cinnamon, vanilla bean and crème brûlée.  100% Chardonnay from Pahlmeyer Estate Vineyard and Antica Vineyard.    

In 1989, Jayson Pahlmeyer invited rising star winemaker Bob Levy to produce the first vintages of Pahlmeyer Chardonnay. The 1991 Chardonnay sold out immediately. Then in 1993, Helen Turley took the winemaking reins, beginning her own rise to prominence. She and her team – including protégé Erin Green - furthered the work of Dunn and Levy, improving the quality and consistency of Pahlmeyer wines through winegrowing, grape sourcing and winemaking innovation.  

To push quality to even greater heights, Helen urged Jayson t o develop estate vineyards. She was instrumental in finding Pahlmeyer’s high-elevation Napa Valley estate vineyard, planted in 1998 to red Bordeaux varieties and Chardonnay. In that same year, a stone’s throw from her famed Marcassin Vineyard on the extreme Sonoma Coast, she found the Wayfarer estate ideally situated for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Both estate vineyards were planted by viticulture legend David Abreu in 1998 and 2002, respectively.  In 2012, Jayson named Bibiana González Rave winemaker for Wayfarer, to oversee his new wines from the estate vineyard, then ten years old and perfectly poised for a solo bottling. She immediately went to work meticulously optimizing the vineyards and realizing his dream to create world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In 2016, her role expanded across all of the Napa Valley operations and Pahlmeyer winemaking. 

Pahlmeyer’s viticultural practices demand low yields while commanding maximum flavor intensity. Farming in one- to two-acre blocks with a palette of as many as 12 clones for each variety, Pahlmeyer’s world-class pedigree of artisanal winemaking continues to rise to new heights as Bibiana pushes the envelope on clone and vineyard management, as well as cellar and winemaking equipment and practices. In 2008, Jayson’s daughter Cleo joined the team, bringing the next generation into the Pahlmeyer legacy and launching the Wayfarer brand.  

And so it is that vintage after vintage, Pahlmeyer continues to live up to Jayson’s audacious dream - producing phenomenal wines of power and finesse.