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| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 28 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by WineArchitect on 11/24/2017 & rated 91 points: Pnp from the cellar. The color is still dark as night. The extracted nose still persists! All of the smokey, licorice, and blueberry jam flavors have all resolved and have melded together. The finish is medium but delicious. Last of my Pax Lauterbach Hill's. These were great. EG #ArchitecturalArtistry #WineArchitect (944 views) | | | Tasted by jlgnml on 4/26/2015 & rated 88 points: Deep color, short finish, past it's prime of velvety luscious ness? (1297 views) | | | Tasted by Spookey on 6/9/2012: At peak. Very good. (2480 views) | | | Tasted by sayward on 3/12/2012 & rated 92 points: Drinking great. Great fruit on the nose and still power for the palate. (2613 views) | | | Tasted by sbtoby on 2/27/2012 & rated 92 points: Slightly past it's peak. Still good, but the fruit has faded. There is a slight musty tang to it. Still it tastes of typical Pax. Leather, spice,black currant and a slight taste of marshmallow. If you are sitting on one of these, drink now. (2631 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 11/23/2011 & rated 92 points: Same as the 7/25/09 bottle except at peak, with a more mature flavor profile and fully integrated tannins. (2314 views) | | | Tasted by Chainthroer on 7/14/2011 & rated 91 points: Deep garnet body. Aromas of blackberry, black current, earth, spice, leather, smoke and a tinge of iodine. Much of the same follows through to the mouth; good fruit concentration. Nice earthy finish. Given to me as a gift by a friend, who knew my appreciation for Rhone type wines. (2024 views) | | | Tasted by jerhardt on 2/11/2011 & rated 91 points: Nice in a Pax sort of way. Obviously big, but not offensive. No problems with heat. Dark fruit and that spicy pine resin element that shows up on some Pax. (1377 views) | | | Tasted by WineArchitect on 1/22/2011 & rated 91 points: Here we go. A wonderful bottle as it should be at this point. Aromas of menthol and licorice with dark fruit flavors of blackberry and intense complexity. Solid through and through. Thanks Joe. EG WineArchitect (1422 views) | | | Tasted by WineArchitect on 1/15/2011 flawed bottle: My first bottle ever corked from Pax. This bottle clearly had T.C.A. EG WineArchitect (1461 views) | | | Tasted by avwineguy on 11/13/2010 & rated 91 points: Deep ink with lighter edges. Not what I call a big nose but refined. I definitely get the bacon fat and smoke. Dark and brooding on the palate. I get plums and a smoky finish. (1522 views) | | | Tasted by WineArchitect on 10/23/2010 & rated 91 points: Dark inky garnet color. Nose of bacon fat, dark berry, gun smoke and alcohol. Flavors to match. This wine is drinking great now and may loose power with time. EG WineArchitect (1523 views) | | | Tasted by koflaher on 1/3/2010 & rated 90 points: Very dark purple. It was quite big upon first opening but after an hour or so it settled down and revealed a very complex nose - bramble, smoked meats, and dark fruits. Lingering finish. Interesting wine but I was most struck by a strong acidity that was almost an unpleasant tartness. I did not have it with food and I expect it would be very different with a flavorful meal. (1801 views) | | | Tasted by WineArchitect on 10/2/2009 & rated 93 points: What a wonderful bottle of this wine! Gracefully aging, allowing all of those Rhone like flavors to mellow and evolve into a deliciously drinkable wine. The color as dark and ink-like as ever. Still present in the nose are aromas of bacon fat, hickory, tar, creosote and dark fruit. The flavors are now mellow but quite present and much the same of the nose. It went well with the roasted rack of lamb. Thanks Joe and Pax! EG (1744 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 7/25/2009 & rated 92 points: Deep purple color. Aromas of black fruits, tar, Asian spices, chocolate and violets. Rich, thick fruit in the mouth with excellent structure and depth. Still a bit young and surprisingly tannic. Could improve with another year or two of aging. (1685 views) | | | Tasted by danseng on 6/7/2009 & rated 91 points: As with most Pax offerings I got a lot of meat, smoke and iodine. It's a style I enjoy but some at our table last night did not. Medicine was one of the comments. (1873 views) | | | Tasted by pgordon62 on 2/13/2009 & rated 91 points: Savory plum, raspberry, violets and smoke. Fat, meaty on the palate. Bright red fruit, limestone and some heat on the powerful finish. Lots fruit and a pleasing beefy side, great mouthfeel but the alcohol (15.3%) is becoming more prominent. Drink soon. (1846 views) | | | Tasted by pgordon62 on 5/31/2008 & rated 92 points: Powerful aromas of grilled fatty meats, charcoal ash, smoky raspberry and a strong camphor note. The palate has a pleasing airiness with wild berry, briny olive and game. There is a dusty, floral finish that has excellent persistence. Though not as fruit forward as a couple of years ago, the alcohol is less noticeable and I prefer the balance at this point. Drink over the next 2-3 years. (1996 views) | | | Tasted by Ekoostik on 2/23/2008 & rated 91 points: This wine is holding up pretty well. Not any real notice of ageing yet except maybe a little less upfront style. Still lots of fruit with just moderate tannin. A Good wine but not a great Pax. I cant see anyting to lose by holding for at least another year or two. (2094 views) | | | Tasted by DougLee on 8/18/2007 & rated 92 points: Had a hankering for this wine and couldn't wait too long to try again. Dark purple hue. Nose of funky earth and peat, with scents of brooding blueberry and violets coming later. Deep dark raspberry and black cherry flavors on the palate with black currants and tar notes also. Massive structure but the relatively fine-grained tannins were actually balanced with the fruit. Not noticeably hot despite the alohol content. Still on the upward curve. Terrific showing for this young wine. (2282 views) | | | Tasted by DougLee on 7/14/2007 & rated 91 points: Very dark purple with garnet edges. Nose was a bit closed initially but opened up with time to show blueberries in spades, plus bacon and violets. Brambly, meaty, and minerally on the palate with a solid, concentrated beam of black raspberry fruit which went on and on. Alcohol content was well-hidden. Young yet but very impressive showing today. I'll wait 6 months before trying again. (2282 views) | | | Tasted by Cavalry19D on 11/6/2006: Even at such a young age, this syrah is nothing short of massive with no signs of mellowing. Barely palatable when first opened, it bloomed into an aromatic nose of blueberry pie... literally. Hugely complex on the palate, waves of deep opulant fruit, roasted coco beans, flint, and sauteed pancetta. While simply enormous on the palate, I was suprised how well balanced the wine remained - never being too much. An extremely exotic experience. (2607 views) | | | Tasted by KevinP on 10/7/2006 & rated 90 points: Drinking pretty well now, but clearly an infant. Wish I had many more, but perhaps not @ $50. Why'd I kill this baby now?? (2562 views) | | | Tasted by Screameagle on 6/8/2006 & rated 91 points: This is the first bottle of this wine I've tried and it's still a baby. It starts with a very expressive nose. No where near ready it is showing great potential. Probably need at least 3 more years of ageing to show it's best but it sure is tasty right now. (2752 views) | | | Tasted by pgordon62 on 5/26/2006 & rated 92 points: Big, lush nose of bacon fat, gunflint and black fruits. On the palate it is dense and packed with fruit. It does show a little heat on the finish but seems to have settled down since the last bottle a year ago. Though I enjoyed this wine I did find it just a little ponderous. (2725 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2004, IWC Issue #114
(Pax Wine Cellars Syrah Lauterbach Hill Vineyard Russian River Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (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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