Peay 2022 Estate Pinot Noir "Scallop Shelf" West Sonoma Coast

The Peay 2022 “Scallop Shelf” Estate Pinot Noir arrives like a finely tuned secret. The nose opens with tarter cherry and blood orange peel, then unfurls into sandalwood, tea-leaf, and a floral haze that’s at once ethereal and vivid. There’s fragrance here, but it’s cloaked in depth—not perfumed, but expressive. 

On the palate, the wine dances between weight and lift. Black raspberry and violet shadows give way to crushed stone, wild herbs, and salty coastal minerals. The structure is arresting—mid-weight tension riding silken tannins, sparkling acidity like a seawater thread, all tapering into a mineral-spiced finish that lingers with clarity.

What gives the wine its painterly complexity is Peay’s meticulous blending philosophy. The Scallop Shelf bottling isn’t tied to one parcel; it’s built from 25–30 sub-blocks of different clones, fermented separately, then artfully layered by Vanessa Wong. Think of each lot as a paint: some bright and aromatic, others darker and bass-driven—and assembled to express the vineyard’s voice with harmony and detail. 

Peay is rooted in place as well as intention. Founded on that fog-drenched ridge just 4 miles from the Pacific in 1998, the estate draws from fractured sandstone, shale, and iron-clay soils set at 600–800 feet. Half a day bogged in is spent farming—every vine, every micro-lot understood. It’s sustainable, organic-minded, and human-scaled, producing wines more thoughtful than flashy. 

Critics respond in kind: Decanter and Wine Enthusiast have both landed at 97 points. Descriptions echo yours—in Decanter’s words, “aromatic, elegant, finesse-driven,” lifted into “ethereal heights of savory spice.” Jeb Dunnuck calls it “layered… velvety sea foam texture…clean finish.” 

This is Pinot that doesn’t shout—it sings. Built with coastal tension, textual nuance, and time in mind. It’s a glass that asks you to slow down, not lean in.