Cleo Pahlmeyer expands her family’s winemaking vision with two new wines exploring cool-climate hillside terroirs in Napa and Oregon, debuting May 27, 2025.
Healdsburg, CA (May 29, 2025) – Cleo Pahlmeyer, second-generation vintner and steward of her family’s winemaking legacy, announces the launch of Ways of Wayfarer, a new label created with her husband, Jamie Watson. Ways of Wayfarer explores exceptional vineyard sites beyond the boundaries of Wayfarer, the Pahlmeyer family’s celebrated estate vineyard on the extreme Sonoma Coast. The inaugural release—arriving May 27, 2025—features two wines from the 2023 vintage: a Chardonnay from Waters Ranch Vineyard in Napa Valley’s Atlas Peak AVA, planted in 2000 by her father, Jayson Pahlmeyer, for his eponymous wines, and a Pinot Noir from the historic Prince Hill Vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills AVA.
Founded in 2023, Ways of Wayfarer allows Cleo and Jamie to apply the precision, curiosity, and ethos of continuous improvement that defines Wayfarer wines to a broader range of cool-climate hillside terroirs. These limited-production bottlings reflect their commitment to quality and exploration.
The 2023 Waters Ranch Vineyard Chardonnay honors the original chapter of the Pahlmeyer story. Planted in 2000 by her father, Jayson Pahlmeyer, and designed by acclaimed vineyard developer David Abreu, the site lies high on the eastern mountain range of Napa Valley at 2,200 feet, where cool bay winds meet rocky volcanic soils. Though Napa is best known for its bold reds, this rare site yields a Chardonnay with incredible intensity, texture, and vibrancy.
The 2023 Prince Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir marks new territory in the Pahlmeyer legacy. Cleo and Jamie’s personal connection to Oregon runs deep—there they spent childhood summers, reconnected as college graduates, and now raise their three children part-time on the Oregon coast. The opportunity to work with the historic Prince Hill Vineyard was brought by the Duncan family, who have meticulously stewarded the vineyard since 2017. Planted by Oregon Pinot pioneer Dick Erath in 1983 using his signature Clos Vougeot–sourced Clone 95, Cleo and Jamie bring their vision of expressive, elegant Pinot Noir to life. Set on red Jory soils in the heart of the prized Dundee Hills AVA, the wine delivers signature finesse and powdery tannins.
Ways of Wayfarer breaks new ground in the Pahlmeyer family’s 40-year legacy in wine. With thoughtful sourcing, small-lot winemaking, and a reverence for terroir, these wines stand on their own while expanding the Wayfarer worldview.
For more details or to purchase, please visit www.WayfarerVineyard.com.
About Ways of Wayfarer
Founded by Cleo Pahlmeyer and her husband Jamie Watson in 2023, Ways of Wayfarer is a new label born from the Wayfarer ethos—expanding into exceptional cool-climate vineyard sites beyond the Wayfarer Fort Ross-Seaview estate. Each wine is a reflection of distinctive terroirs, chosen for their expressive fruit and excellence in farming. The label allows Cleo and Jamie to explore new stories in wine while remaining rooted in the detail, curiosity, and drive that define Wayfarer’s approach.
About Wayfarer
Wayfarer is Cleo Pahlmeyer’s continuation of the Pahlmeyer family’s 40-year legacy in wine. Founded by the daughter of legendary Napa vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer, Wayfarer produces estate-grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the family’s organically farmed vineyard in Sonoma’s Fort Ross-Seaview AVA—one of California’s most rugged and revered cool-climate sites.
Planted by renowned viticulturist David Abreu in 2002 and lauded by Helen Turley as “The La Tâche of California,” the Wayfarer estate has become a benchmark for coastal winemaking. With Goldridge soils, high-elevation sunlight, and brisk Pacific air, the site yields wines of profound tension, mineral purity, depth, and complexity. Since its founding in 2012, Cleo has led Wayfarer with a relentless pursuit of precision, pushing toward her ultimate goal: to establish Wayfarer as a Grand Cru of California.
