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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.2 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 104 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by mattym19 on 8/19/2023 & rated 92 points: Open in the bottle for about an hour and a half. The nose is not shy, quite ripe, exploding out of the glass with blue and black berries and a beef broth, seaweed thing that brings balance to the fruit and is everything I love about these old Pax wines. Palate is so lovely, concentrated, umami, olive brine, ripe cherries and blackberries, great acidity on the long, fruity, kelp-y finish. It’s a huge wine with a huge personality but it’s so balanced even after almost 20 years. I honestly can’t get enough of this stuff. (224 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 5/8/2020 & rated 91 points: This has aged quite well with still-rich and dense black fruit that is loaded with black pepper and meat. Rich and dense. (1437 views) | | | Tasted by dbkitc on 5/28/2019 & rated 90 points: A total contrast to the Kongsgaard. This is all blueberry and exuberant fruit. Decent balancing structure but this is a Syrah fruit bomb. (90) (1328 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 2/1/2017 & rated 94 points: Loads of tart red cherries, crisp red raspberry, no hint of fading nor was it showing any faults. Complemented steak and cheese sub. These 2004's are drinking well now. (2743 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 8/16/2016 & rated 94 points: A little off compared to previous bottles. Volatile acidity is concerning. Shows age, dried fruit & plum (2723 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 8/16/2016 & rated 93 points: Tart cherry, ripe plum, meaty , bright fruit, a hint of tobacco and good aromatics. Consistent with previous note. (2667 views) | | | Tasted by carendt on 7/17/2016 & rated 95 points: Spectacular! (2262 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 4/7/2016 & rated 95 points: Cranberries and cherry. Love it. (2339 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 2/15/2016 & rated 97 points: Star of the 2004 Pax lineup and the evening. Bright cranberry, light oak, tart cherry, red currant. Smitten. Loved it. (1603 views) | | | Tasted by andrewdodd86 on 2/5/2016 & rated 95 points: Plum, blackberry/cassis, chocolate, tobacco, olive, bbq/smoke. Really hitting its stride, drinking beautifully. By no means over the hill, but drink up! (1216 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 2/5/2016 & rated 94 points: Dark ruby. This has mushrooms , earth, spice, with dusty red fruit , mature , dried cherries, and a great finish. Terrific fully mature Pinot. (1816 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 9/7/2015 & rated 93 points: BLACKBERRIES, LICORICE, SMOKY MEAT IN THE NOSE. VERY RICH FLAVOR, MAYBE A BIT OVER THE TOP WITH DEEP BERRY FRUITS AND LICORICE. LONG FINISH. (590 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 9/7/2015: Remains my favorite of his wines....drinking very well and rich but in balance...yum with pork ribs (1441 views) | | | Tasted by jswine15 on 12/21/2014 & rated 92 points: Deep red color, A very fruit forward style of wine...drinking wonderfully, this will last decades, reminds me of a northern rhone style. A huge, fruity nose, with a blast of red fruits on the front of the mouth. Acids and tennins very much in the background. (1639 views) | | | Tasted by Knicksfan on 11/10/2014 & rated 93 points: Still drinking beautifully (1432 views) | | | Tasted by ajr on 7/26/2014 & rated 92 points: outstanding. tasted like a northern rhone syrah. wonderful white pepper on the palate. full body/deep rich color. in a good place now. (2488 views) | | | Tasted by BVal on 7/13/2014 & rated 92 points: 336 cases produced: 15.6% alcohol.
Color: dark, inky purple still -> medium-deep ruby rim. Truly a spectacular bouquet of violets, framboise, white pepper, wet slate, bacon and charred beef. Thick palate showing good structure and, to me, acceptable acid levels; blueberries, minerals, pepper, a little smokiness and roasted meat. This is yet another Pax wine that has improved over the years. No longer the lumbering Godzilla it used to be, it has developed into a fairly smooth, approachable (though chewy) big-bodied Syrah that can be enjoyed with robust dinners -- think lamb or strip sirloin on the grill. While I like the no-holds-barred approach, it could dial back slightly on the alcohol that shows through a bit on the medium-long finish. (1953 views) | | | Tasted by agnorger on 7/1/2014 & rated 88 points: not holding up to the test of time. lost its tannin. fruit still holding on but tastes more like grape juice than wine. bummer (1794 views) | | | Tasted by spts1000 on 2/28/2014 flawed bottle: it was slightly corked, if there is such a thing. beyond the cork taint there seemed to be such potential (1889 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 11/13/2013: drank right after the 2003 version and also very nice but much smoother and a little less interesting both in terms of fruit boldness and the bite of the spice/pepper...still a very nice bottle of wine (1913 views) | | | Tasted by vinoballo on 1/28/2013 & rated 90 points: Too acidic for my taste, but definitely got hints of blueberry and lemongrass. Was hoping it would round out over the evening but it never quite did. This is more traditional burgundian style than some of the later Pax efforts I'm used to enjoying. (2222 views) | | | Tasted by King Cab on 3/18/2012 & rated 91 points: Nose of pure blueberry, steamed bacon and framboise. Palate exhibits a large boned frame with dark blueberry pie, blue plums skins, black raspberries and cassis. It’s intense and full throttle. Very Cote Rotie like when Cote Rotie does new world. Warmish blueberries, white pepper, sassafras, leather and smoke make this both interesting and enjoyable on a 66 degree Sunday afternoon. Balance is decent with acidity riding a bit high. Tannins are humungous, so maybe its a match made in Heaven. Finish is admirable. Nothing elegant about this wine, but I did not miss my expectations either. It’s big, chewy and intense. Perfect with frilled porterhouse on the Weber. (3340 views) | | | Tasted by beezer6 on 2/8/2012 & rated 89 points: Huge massively structured liqueur-like wine. 15.6% alcohol and unfortunately it shows.
Huge blackberries, big thick smoke, anise, black pepper corns, dark roast coffee and a unique CINNAMON RED HOT CANDY play.
The palate is equally weighty and powerful. I wish there were some floral aspects and more restraint as a whole.
The finish is decent - quite hot, low acid yet nice sweet tannins. A cocktail wine for the end of the night.
Some will really enjoy this and I did score it well I just prefer Pax's lower alcohol wines. (2977 views) | | | Tasted by tplskylrk on 2/1/2012 & rated 93 points: Absolutely killer. Huge fruit, depth of flavors, structured. Where can I get more. (2759 views) | | | Tasted by jimmythesaint on 1/29/2012: Drank upon decanting and much better than my last bottle. Smoked meat, blue/black berries, and nice spice. (2472 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| i-WineReview.com, Report 4: Syrah - CA, WA, and OR (9/1/2006)
(Pax Cellars Pax Castelli Knight Ranch Russian River Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2006, IWC Issue #126
(Pax Wine Cellars Syrah Castelli Knight Ranch) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (10/1/2007)
(Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch) Group's #1 (my #1) – 23 pts; 2 firsts, 2 seconds, 1 third, 0 last places – dark red violet color; sexy plum, pepper, roasted meat, liquid pepper and floral nose; tasty, more balanced, complex, roasted meat, roasted fruit, pepper and charcoal palate; medium-plus finish (15.6% alcohol) 94 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of i-WineReview.com and Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Pax Producer website
The goal of our winemaking is to discover distinct California wines that are that way because of a unique terroir, or a unique interaction of vine and environment. Therefore with respect to winemaking we do everything we can to do very little. However, while it is true that great wine is made in the vineyard, we know that we can make decisions that have impacts on the critical characters of a wine. The first step of good winemaking is to be very involved in the vineyards, afterward taking inspiration from the Rhone Valley in France, we’ve discovered a few critical factors to why our wines taste the way they taste: harvest timing, stem inclusion, native fermentations, judicious oak regimes, and patience [...] our goal is to make great wine and nothing else.
Each bottle matches the soil color of the specific vineyard with the color of the label (and, prior to 2014, with the cork wax). For instance, the white, chalky, limestone soils of the James Berry Vineyard merit a white Pax label, etc.Syrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyRussian River Valley Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia |
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