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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.2 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 154 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by melzar on 3/16/2024 & rated 90 points: Not as good as the 2016, this still merits your attention. Tannin and acidity dominate the flavor profile. I suspect an attempt was made to downplay the copious fruit that California provides, perhaps by early harvest? Very old world in style, and I like it. Addendum: Still holding on day three. Stored since release at 55 degrees and showing a lot of sediment. (1121 views) | | | Tasted by ktholland on 1/20/2024 & rated 90 points: Interesting wine and one to spend time with and think. Olives, dark blue/black fruit, green peppercorns, capers, saline, green/stemmy, savory herbs and in my household a polarizing amount of brett which shows as bandaids/barnyard funk. Bright with good tannic structure, though drinks somewhat thin, long complex finish. I’m glad I tried this and I appreciate what it is, but tough to share with folks unfamiliar with this style and expect them to love it. (1391 views) | | | Tasted by Drunkuncle on 11/25/2023 & rated 50 points: Crap. Sour and basically undrinkable. Multiple bottles like this. Opened a bottle of the 2020 North Coast as well, and it was disappointingly similar. I remember loving Pax wines before he split with the Donelans - they were Lucious and inky Syrahs. These were something else. I don’t envision buying any more. (1594 views) | | | Tasted by 3daywinereview.com on 10/26/2023 & rated 95 points: Day 1: One of the better under $50 wines of the year. Had these two other times and off the charts. The best of the 17, 18 and 19 tastings this past week. Gravel, tar, black olives, blueberries, stone, white pepper and forest floor. Super complex wine and drinking well with a long finish. 95 points
Day 2: Solid when with gravel, tar, white pepper, raspberries, blueberries, stone and forest floor. Rustic wine and complex overall. 93 points
Day 3: Really not good and sour fruit, spice, floral and Brett overload. This is not drinkable on day 3. Can't even score it and such a contrast from the day 1 experience. If I did 50 points.
Recommendation: Pop, pour and consume now and don't wait on these as they are good without a decant. (1674 views) | | | Tasted by galewskj on 7/3/2023 & rated 85 points: A little.better than the first bottle. Pop and pour, drank half of the bottle over 2 hours. Acid almost to a flaw, with VA about ready to make it one. It tastes like a cool climate wine, but that might be just the acidity. $57 from the winery with tax and shipping stings a bit. (2196 views) | | | Tasted by trumpet60201 on 7/3/2023 & rated 90 points: Same presentation as my last bottle from April 2022. The fruit is rich and luscious, with fine tannins and nice (quite high, but not VA level) acidity supporting. I found the brett/funkiness again in this bottle, and I won't rate it a 93 like I did a year ago due to those things, but I still found those aspects to be tolerable and they did not (completely) take away from my enjoyment of the underlying wine. I'll try to hold off on my last 2 for at least 4 or 5 years to see how this evolves. (1722 views) | | | Tasted by seijaro on 6/9/2023: Bad bottle? Quite sour, poured it out.
9/16/23 Another bottle, same result... ouch :( (1763 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 4/27/2023: decanted for about an hour before dinner Sunday and really no joy for me. Clearly looks to Northern Rhone and those flavors are there but personally would have enjoyed more fruit to buffer the acid and tannin. Next night a bit better but still really not much pleasure. I will revisit a bottle of the 2016 but pretty sure I'm done with this bottling, with or without the love AG showers on it (1848 views) | | | Tasted by seijaro on 3/5/2023 & rated 91 points: A nice Syrah but a far cry from the killers they made in the 1990s. Initially a bit tart. After 45 minutes in decanter it began to open and show its stuff. Briefly got to 92 with the food, then faded rather badly after about 90 minutes. Won't buy any more. (1826 views) | | | Tasted by Colowine on 1/21/2023: Surprisingly acidic on the finish. Well balanced and tasty (1750 views) | | | Tasted by VAGenius on 11/17/2022 & rated 91 points: 45 minute decant - threw a huge sediment. Strong cherry nose with cola and red licorice. Piercing sour cherry and watermelon palate rides across the tongue and quickly fades into wet stones, minerals, and tannins that expand into the finale, adding clay. (1856 views) | | | Tasted by Broch6833 on 10/14/2022 & rated 92 points: Find myself in agreement with Trumpet's notes from April. Red fruited, light on its feet.
I'm fascinated by how polarizing this wine is, but I really enjoy it. Drinks well by itself, or with food. (2009 views) | | | Tasted by corkscrews on 8/3/2022 & rated 87 points: A nose of dark fruits and spices, dark ruby in color. A medium to full bodied red with blackberry, licorice and spices on gritty finish. www.winelx.com (2184 views) | | | Tasted by Quarked on 7/23/2022 & rated 91 points: On opening, the smell of olives and brine wafted from the bottle. This was also a fair description of its flavor, added with some muted/dried blueberries. Nice bottle, but there was always a touch a brett/bandaids in the background that subtracted from the experience. On the second night, this dominated the flavor, which means I didn't finish it off. (1903 views) | | | Tasted by Laz4wine on 6/26/2022 & rated 91 points: Clearly polarizing, bright raspberry with lemon curd and some earthy/meaty notes on day 1. Day 2 brought more of the sanguine depth and funky forest floor to the stage. Day 3 was a filtering exercise, the throw was non-stop and the texture very meaty as a result with amplified darker berry and dusty notes. Quite the journey with this one, will save 2nd bottle a couple years just to see what gives down the line given recent comments. (1965 views) | | | Tasted by trumpet60201 on 4/29/2022 & rated 93 points: I was expecting a mess based upon the reviews here, but I'm really enjoying this. This presents as very young and it really could use another 5+ years in the bottle. It has rich fruit and a long sappy finish. The fruit is delicious as well. There are some "natural wine" notes to this (maybe a little brett?), which I can see some people not enjoying, but I find that aspect of this wine to be a minor side note - while the rich delicious fruit, fine tannins and nice acidity take the lead. This is a delight and I'm glad I have a few more to enjoy over the next 15 years or so. (2156 views) | | | Tasted by R.H. on 4/12/2022: 2017 never quite lit the lamp for me with this wine (2080 views) | | | Tasted by stoneb on 3/5/2022 & rated 92 points: Consumed over 2 nights; PnP on first. Garnet red. Shy nose on opening, with aromatics and palate improving substantially with air. High-toned fruit with layers of flavor, but nothing that bashes you over the head. (12.9% alc). High acid; needed food and complemented it rather that dominated it. Better on second night after vacu-vin and back in cellar. Unusually restrained style for CA syrah, and one I like a lot. (2086 views) | | | Tasted by Bellbx on 2/17/2022 & rated 94 points: I love this wine. Pax continues to shine. (2051 views) | | | Tasted by 3daywinereview.com on 1/8/2022 & rated 94 points: Day 1: Pop and pour. Unique wine with black olives, band aid, spice, sour cherries, white pepper, minerals and mild funk. Not as good as the original day 1 experience but solid. 92 points
Day 1.5: As others have describe wine was in a weird place and really was not enjoyable. Probably low 80s at best.
Day 2: Much better and back in the game. Black olives, funk, roasted meats, white pepper, stone, band aid and red currants. Medium plus finish. Completely different experience from day 1 and much more likeable. 93 points
Day 2.5: Big on the black olives on initial pour but I find every pour needs time. Now (one hour later) roasted meats, black olives, funk, band aid, white pepper, sour red currants, minerals and underbrush. A true demonstration of patients. 93 points
Day 3: Again needs 15 minutes in the glass to come together. Black olives, white pepper, roasted walnuts, underbrush, minerals, roasted meats, red currants and funk. One of the most interesting wines I have ever tasted. A true living liquid experience. 93+ points
Day 3.5: Filtered out the sediment. The best glass is last. More intense fruit featuring blueberries, raspberries and sour cherry. Minerals, roasted meats, white pepper, dried leaves, olives and mushrooms. 94 points
Recommendation: If you like in your face Syrah avoid. Again one of not the most interesting wine I have ever tasted. (2645 views) | | | Tasted by PapaGreenz on 12/24/2021 & rated 85 points: Not such a fan, not sure if this bottle went bad, but very tart to the point of being sour and way too earthy - note or my palate. (2096 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 12/6/2021 & rated 91 points: Happily, this bottle was noticeably better than the prior two. It was richer and more complex with loner finish. (2012 views) | | | Tasted by hutch on 11/29/2021 & rated 91 points: Such a controversial bottle but this seemed sound. It did not have the explosive aromatics from when it was released. This is not fruit forward. It is very savory, with olives, purple flowers, a little meat. I could see some finding it even under ripe but I enjoyed it. Much better with the meal then on its own, as the acid is elevated. Wish I had another one to try in a few years but I have nothing to complain with this bottle (2063 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 9/25/2021 & rated 88 points: This bottle was a touch shorter on the palate and less drinkable than the 8/11/21 bottle. Very disappointing! (2325 views) | | | Tasted by DugyDog on 9/13/2021 & rated 91 points: This baby needs years to fully come around and show itself. Poured a glass via Coravin and am glad I didn’t pull the cork. Blackberry, some smokiness and earth but this took time to show. Wait 5 years (2501 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| 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.Pax Syrah Sonoma Hillsides
Inspired by his visits to the cellars of Jean Gonon and Raymond Trollat, 2016 was the first release of Pax Mahle’s Hillsides Syrah. The wine received a rare 100-point score from Vinous, and Antonio Galloni also recently wrote that Hillsides represents “one of the very finest wines in Northern California”. Hillsides is a culmination of the most compelling Syrah Pax can find in any given year. The wines are identified post-fermentation, taken from wood, and blended into a single concrete tank. Pax explains, “concrete gives a very dense core of fruit. Concrete breathes but not as much as wood; it brings the wine to a really nice reductive state, which allows us to minimise our use of sulphur.”
The sites used in the Sonoma Hillsides Syrah can vary each year. However, each is chosen to showcase the freshness and vibrancy that Syrah can only achieve in these cool-climate hillside slopes. In particular, the Walker Vine Hill Vineyard in the Russian River Valley invariably forms the base of this prestigious wine. Situated in a unique micro-climate that traps cool coastal influences to allow the fruit to ripen slowly, the vines are rooted in iconic Goldridge soil (a touchstone for cool-climate Syrah in California). The remaining sites include the Castelli-Knight Ranch, bringing high-tone spice and power; the Nellessen Vineyard, which provides nerve and acidity; and the cool and fog-blanketed Griffin’s Lair Vineyard in Petaluma Gap.
Like the rest of the Pax Syrah range, the Sonoma Hillsides is 100% whole cluster fermented and foot crushed. For a 12.5% wine that sees no new wood, it’s an intense wine but not about power. Instead, it’s driven by finesse and transparency; a penetrating but floral Californian Syrah binding sinewy freshness to textural affluence. And it is the stuff dinner table dreams are made of.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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