External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2006
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.7 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 29 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Tony Ling on 5/12/2022 & rated 94 points: PNP into Atiap Titanium 200ml wine vessel ("Root" day): Deep purplish garnet to the eyes. (733 views) | | | Tasted by Acohen on 10/1/2021 & rated 90 points: Big dark fruit with minerality and body (818 views) | | | Tasted by HaydenBradbury on 6/12/2021 & rated 92 points: This has held up extremely well. Decant for 45-60mins. Fruit still present, tannins still present. Boozy backend that you get used to. Drink now with air, no rush. (846 views) | | | Tasted by River Rat on 4/30/2018: Notes over 36 hrs. Started with a whiff of sulphur and menthol but morphed to old leather, still ample blackberry at first but giving way to persimmon and fig. Pick up some alcohol up front, has a bit of weight but no heat on the finish. Was better on day 1 tannins remain heavy and chalky. Was best at about 3hrs open, the extra day didn’t help but rather detracted. This was a wine that I thought might integrate nicely when last tasted 8yrs ago. Yet it just is what it was, an OK Syrah. (1692 views) | | | Tasted by wineaux2 on 4/29/2017 & rated 92 points: This one had held up pretty well. Started off with a nose and palate of dark berries complemented with leather. Saved a few glasses for day 2, and the berries were still very much there but were joined by meaty undertones, which seemed to mostly fade away by the last glass. Heat was also noticeable on day 2, but wasn't too distracting. Overall, this was a very enjoyable wine. (1483 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 4/23/2017 & rated 93 points: Lush, fruity, smoky, delicious. Better the second day, especially the nose of campfire cooking. Wish I had more. (1262 views) | | | Tasted by dutradan@msn.com on 3/28/2017 & rated 92 points: earthy, smokey, rich fatty meat and dark fruit, This wine still has lots of live left. The tannins are firm and provide a nice backstrap and frame for this wine to show itself.
Drink it now or in the next few years. Could go longer and could present as a very earthy french version of a CA syrah. What???? We had it with a sirloin steak sliced and smothered in a mushroom tomato sauce. Perfect!! (1135 views) | | | Tasted by Amerique on 12/24/2015 & rated 93 points: Delicious, ready to drink, very surprised how this wine has come around, maybe I've been to hard on Pax? (1483 views) | | | Tasted by GrandeSerataFuori on 3/1/2015 & rated 88 points: We opened this after polishing off a Mount Eden Pinot Noir. What a difference! This dark, dense wine was had nice herbal and blackberry aromas. Fairly intenese tannins. Though enjoyable, it didn't impress me as much as some other Pax offerings.
Virtually unchanged on day 2. Still dense and tannic. (1454 views) | | | Tasted by ksmith on 12/2/2014 & rated 91 points: Deep purple color. Nose of berries and leather, some smoke. Palate is blackberry and plum. Finishes with some heat, especially early. I think this is as good as it's likely to get, so drink up and enjoy. (1445 views) | | | Tasted by SeaSmoke on 11/1/2014 & rated 91 points: Similar comments to Dec. 2012. This wine still has time. Enjoy! (1465 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 5/17/2013 & rated 92 points: Consistent with previous tasting note. Decanted for only two hours this time, but doesn't seem to have moved much from where it was a couple of years ago. (2246 views) | | | Tasted by SeaSmoke on 12/29/2012 & rated 91 points: Deep purple in color. Berries and some leather evident. The tannins are still evident. Medium + finish. This bottle definitely evolved over 3+ hours. Still high in alcohol with fruit evident. Drinking very nicely. (2054 views) | | | Tasted by Amerique on 10/31/2012 & rated 92 points: Tasting this wine was a pleasant surprise. Harsh oaky flavors and intense tannins had dissipated enough so that the rich blackberry fruit and meaty, bacony, and leather flavors had greater length. Still I'm not a great fan of Pax. The wines seem just too over-done, huge fruit and in-your-face flavors, with little finesse and elegance. What does that say about Parker's palate? (1880 views) | | | Tasted by Amerique on 11/23/2011 & rated 91 points: Initially, this wine presents with rich blackberry fruit with meaty, leathery, and cassis flavors which dissipate almost completely into harsh, dry, oaky flavors with little perceptible fruit, tannins were intense, finish very short, in the end the wine was almost undrinkable, maybe a day or two of opening may help soften and integrate the fruit and flavors but I doubt it; I'm afraid this is yet another hedonistic Parkerized oak/fruit bomb ala the Dunn cabernets. (2313 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 3/11/2011 & rated 92 points: Decanted for four hours before service. In the glass, dark, opaque red with a touch of purple. On the nose, crushed blackberries and damp forest floor. On the palate, olive tapenade, blackberries, and notes of minerals and tar, with a core of pure, dark fruit, and a smooth texture on a relatively long finish. The tannins weren't completely resolved after four hours, but I would not consider them strong by any means. I was expecting more of the "wall of tannins" from the other tasting notes, but this seemed much further along the development curve. (2561 views) | | | Tasted by arniec on 12/23/2010 & rated 90 points: Consumed over 3 days. Got a bit better each day. Still tanic on day 3. (2406 views) | | | Tasted by winelovr2001 on 11/4/2010 & rated 90 points: similar note as my last bottle (2147 views) | | | Tasted by winelovr2001 on 9/30/2010 & rated 92 points: Definately pushing the edge of ripeness, but very nice. Strong tannins as well...this one needs some time. (2132 views) | | | Tasted by River Rat on 9/8/2010: Pop and pour deep dark purple and a touch cloudy. Heavy funky barnyard nose took a while to blow off and turned to tobacco, tar, smoke and white pepper. Pretty closed with a little red and black fruit, gritty/mouth-drying tannins, and a hint of acidity. The 15.5 abv was a no show here. This just isn't doing a whole lot for me right now. Maybe tomorrow it might pick up. I'll surely leave my others alone for a while longer.
Day 2 this one is performing much better. Much fuller on the palate, juicy with a touch more acid but the tannins are still pretty powerful. I really like where it's going but needs some time to get there. (2366 views) | | | Tasted by jtcseventysix on 1/27/2010 & rated 88 points: Saturated ruby color. Smells like dog piss with light berry fruit; very young and tight, with spicy bright berry flavors, firm tannins. (2901 views) | | | Tasted by Jody Smith on 1/18/2009 & rated 92 points: Tough to evaluate as this is still backward and tight as a drum. A tell-tale whole cluster nose is giving up some citrus, pepper notes and a faint flora perfume. Huge alcohol, acid and ground cinnamon tannins will allow for some serious cellaring – no doubt several years of cellar rest will do this some good. (2639 views) | | | Tasted by rsepulve on 11/2/2007 & rated 93 points: Decanted 2 hours, consumed over 4. Deep, almost opaque red/purple color. Initially one dimensional nose of ripe (almost overripe) blue and black berries. From the nose I expected a thick, syrupy mess but I was pleasantly surprised by the elegant, velvety mouth feel with no hint of heat. Still, not very exciting. After a few hours, however, this wine really started to sing! The intense fruit faded a bit and grilled meat, smoke, tar, white pepper and spices emerged. Great complexity! Finished long with firm tannins that grew more prominent with time. Really enjoyed it and look forward to following its evolution. (3021 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2008, IWC Issue #138
(Pax Wine Cellars Syrah Eastern Ridge 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.2006 Pax Syrah Eastern RidgeWinery Note:
2006 Pax Syrah, Eastern Ridge, Russian River Valley
The Russian River Valley like most of the viticultural appellations of California is much larger than it should be. Politics drive the decisions and things like climate and soil are overlooked. The Eastern border of the Russian River Appellation is a warm rocky ridgeline w/ tremendous grape growing potential. The soils are filled w/ rocks and the days stay warmer later in the day, as it takes the marine influence longer to arrive in the evenings. Rocky soils tend to deprive the naturally vigorous Syrah vines of the water and nutrient availability that enables them to be vigorous. This low vigor insures intensity and concentration and while the Syrah grown in these rocky hillsides is extremely impressive, they don't remind us of a classic Russian River Syrah. We are thrilled to offer fans of the riper more luscious style of Syrah a naturally concentrated pure California Syrah. The 100% whole-cluster fermentation "tames" the sweetness of the ripe fruit and adds enough tannin to make even this warm climate bottling spicy and savory.
Tasting Note:
Ripe black plum, leather, lard and brown spices fill the nose. The palate is rich and full in the middle w/ loads of spice balancing the ripe black fruit. The finish brings chalky mountain tannins and rich black fruits that are enlivened by naturally bright acid and a red cherry pit flavor.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 |
|
