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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.8 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 27 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by pjhr on 9/30/2017 & rated 92 points: Tasty raspberry, floral, and kirsch aromas and flavors with resolving tannins on the moderate finish. (1080 views) | | | Tasted by Mscruggs on 2/27/2017 & rated 91 points: Still seems to be holding strong. Slight bricking on the edge but still holding lots of red fruit with a long finish. (1094 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 12/7/2013: Last bottle. The nose was full of violet and berry fruit. Flavors of herbs d'provence, crystalized violets and raspberry are clinging to a tannic frame with notes of leather and stem. While this was very good upon opening, the tannin just does not surrender and turns dry. A portion saved for the following day confirmed that the tannins are drying and the fruit is probably breathing its last breaths. (2411 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 11/23/2012: Outstanding, but STILL wound up. Stemmy earth tones, olive and flowers over a core of blackberry/raspberry/plum fruit. Leather and spice notes add complexity. Decent acidity and still a nice velvety tannin frame. Hold off 2 -5 years on remaining bottle. (2688 views) | | | Tasted by IAMVLAD on 6/26/2011: i wonder if this wine will ever open up. (3289 views) | | | Tasted by jjoyce on 4/30/2011 & rated 93 points: Upon opening it was clear this was still a baby, so let it sit in the glass for about an hour. The nose stayed closed, but, the flavor really opened up. Loads of tart cherry with lively tannins and acidity. This has the stuff to become something very special with a few more years on it. Glad I have another bottle to look forward to in the coming years. (3311 views) | | | Tasted by Knicksfan on 6/26/2010 & rated 89 points: Way different than I remember....not sure what was going on here tonight. Need to retry. (2652 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 1/17/2010 & rated 88 points: Compared to my previous tasting note, the appearance and aromatics were essentially unchanged, but the palate is now heavy on blackberries, and significantly more tart than I remember. Don't know if it's just this bottle, but my guess is that you probably ought to be drinking these sooner rather than later. (2043 views) | | | Tasted by Knicksfan on 11/27/2009 & rated 93 points: Yum. Really enjoyable from the first pour. I detected red fruit, the wife said "spicy"...tannin were certainly present but seemed to integrate nicely as the bottle was poured. (1741 views) | | | Tasted by herberto on 8/1/2009 & rated 93 points: Distinctive, delicious wine. Aggressively tannic - I wonder if this will mellow out at some point. And stemmy. But I prefer stemmy tannins to new French Oak tannins, or G-- forbid, walnut shell tannins, any day. 16% alcohol, but the tannins so hide any hotness or overripeness that you'd never guess it. When I tasted this, which I served at a dinner party, I was worried my guests would not like it. But in fact, everybody loved it - it was the runaway WOTN among some high-scorgin competition. (1695 views) | | | Tasted by MarkC on 6/13/2009 & rated 92 points: At first this seemed a little funky--not much nose to speak of, and the palate was really disjointed. However, after an hour or so, it started to really come together and ended up being very nice. Intense, ripe flavors, but not a hint of prune/raisin/sugar/etc. Very much a California wine, but with a bit of sensibility--structure, nice acidity, and a mouthfeel that walked the line between Old World and New. Will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next few years. (1910 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 5/10/2009 & rated 93 points: This is really evolving into something special. The nose was fantastic: loaded with lavender, berries and a soft herb/earth note. The palate was still dominated by the clean raspberry / berry flavors backed by a leathery note and really fine tannin. Excellent balance. Some spicey elements played in the background, adding a pleasant dimension. This was a great bottle. (1734 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 3/8/2009 & rated 92 points: See previous notes. Developing beautifully. (1788 views) | | | Tasted by IAMVLAD on 3/6/2009 & rated 94 points: tasted opposite a tablas creek 03 espirit de beaucastel, an 03 tablas panopile, an 89 pegau and a 05 saxum james berry. this wine outclased them all by a long ways. deep brooding fruit suggests that the best is yet to come. wonderful nose and as the wine opened with breathing the fruit was magnificant. only new world grenache that i liked better was the sine quonan 2000. (1864 views) | | | Tasted by SeaSmoke on 2/16/2009 & rated 92 points: Drank with friends. The nose of the wine was fantastic. Berry and spice were evident. The wine really opened up over the 2 hours while we drank this wine. Should have many more years to enjoy. (1864 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 4/20/2008 & rated 93 points: Great pure berry flavors highlighted by spice and mineral notes. Great stuff, I really enjoyed this bottle. Some more floral notes are developing with time. Decanted for 2 hours and drank over the next 2. Very pretty wine/ (1945 views) | | | Tasted by bsherwin on 3/13/2008: Grenache y Mas Grenache-The Great CA Grenache-off (Cafe Cortadito): A beautiful albeit, at this point, incomplete wine. It had just amazing florals aromas with the pure red fruit slowly racheting up to the fore. It picked up some interesting complexity with air, as someone else at the table spot on noted blood orange. The wine enters the mouth nice enough, with sweet and focused fruit, but it clamps down hard about 3/4 of the way through. It is like a vacuum sucking the fruit out of your mouth leaving some tea and leather. Still, I have high hopes for this one. It is a wine of great promise that begs for cooperative patience. (2918 views) | | | Tasted by rsepulve on 1/8/2008 & rated 92 points: Tasted blind. Bright red fruit, especially cherry, with white pepper spice and a touch of smoke. Lacks the depth and complexity of "great" wines but this was a lovely, well balanced wine that paired perfectly with food. I'd drink this daily if I could. Very enjoyable. (2172 views) | | | Tasted by crickdog25 on 12/30/2007 & rated 93 points: Very jammy and earthy, ripe with strong tannins. Well-wrapped and brought together on the close. (2190 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 10/20/2007 & rated 91 points: In the glass, dark red shading to a faint purplish-orange at the rim. On the nose, currants and plums. On the palate, plums and stone fruit, with a musty leathery note that reminded me of a Crozes-Hermitage. I'm not sure this has much more to show, but I think it will stay at this level for a few years. (2199 views) | | | Tasted by rsepulve on 4/4/2007 & rated 91 points: Nice wine. Lots of mostly red fruit with some hints of spice and leather. Well balanced but for a touch of heat. Needs another year to really come together. (2425 views) | | | Tasted by jnanz on 3/11/2007 & rated 93 points: Excellent grenache. Will add prpoer TN after next bottle as I didn't tke detailed notes this time around. Although a lot of big red fruit flavors stood out. There was also some earthy, stoney, leathery flavors evolving. A bit of spice also helped balance the fruit and earth flavors. (2414 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2007, IWC Issue #132
(Pax Wine Cellars Grenache Dry Stack Vineyard Vinyard Bennett 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.Grenache Varietal character (Appellation America) - Read more about GrenacheUSAAmerican 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 County |
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