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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 95 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Peech on 1/6/2024 & rated 94 points: drank 1 hour after decanting. Nice and fragrant, woodsy fragrance, almost sandalwood. Very fruity, blackcurrant, nice leather, a little floral and soapy on the finish. So beautiful another half hour later with grilled meats, definitely like Côte-Rôtie now, sweet, caramel. Still pretty good after 2½ hours in the decanter. (207 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 7/28/2023 & rated 92 points: drank more than 1 hour after decanting. Big nose where the alcohol was still a little sharp. Lots of plum, cassis, very meaty like grilled meats, and a little leather. After about 2 hours in the decanter, this became more sweet on the nose. (249 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 2/4/2023 & rated 92 points: drank 1½ hours after double-decanting. Really sweet and jammy at first. Notes of eucalyptus and a little leather. Still got tannins. (431 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 10/6/2022 & rated 93 points: drank 45 minutes after decanting. Still kinda tannic, with leather, violet, lavender notes. Improved some 1½ hours after decanting when chilled, with lots of eucalyptus, also got ripe and jammy with blackcurrants. (600 views) | | | Tasted by mattym19 on 6/25/2022 & rated 92 points: Open in the bottle for about 3 hours. Nose is subtly earthy with white pepper and black and blue fruits in that typically Syrah way. Palate is fabulous: slightly meaty, umami, almost seaweed notes followed by crunchy red and blue berries and long, mineral finish. Great acidity, tannins obviously still there but not overbearing. Great with steak, great with summer squash salad, great with spicy hummus. These mid-2000s Pax Syrahs are just so killer. (768 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 6/17/2022 & rated 94 points: drank 30 minutes after decanting. Pretty sweet on the nose, really woodsy and fragrant. Drinking very well, as expected. (157 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 5/11/2022 & rated 91 points: first pour 25 minutes after decanting. Initially pretty alcoholic, very ripe, but surprisingly high in acidity and not too sweet on the palate. Showing smoke, wood, and a little perfumed. More than 1 hour after decanting this was more floral and almost soapy, and the palate was deteriorating. Two hours after decanting the nose got a more fragrant with cedar notes. Palate was OK, improved a little. (675 views) | | | Tasted by trumpet60201 on 5/25/2020 & rated 94 points: Fantastic - huge fresh fruit, very nicely integrated tannins - lots of life left on these, great acid. Full-bodied, medium+ finish. Olive, savory notes. Pepper, classic syrah nose. Unreal good stuff that has lots of life left if you're lucky enough to have some in your cellar. (1487 views) | | | Tasted by locovino on 4/14/2020 & rated 91 points: Bright red Syrah fruit. Aging well. Not as meaty as other Pax Syrahs I’ve enjoyed from the mid 00s (1458 views) | | | Tasted by pjhr on 12/25/2019 & rated 92 points: Tasty blackberry and boysenberry on the nose and palate with earth and spice notes on the moderate finish. (1412 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 11/23/2019 & rated 92 points: Somewhat similar notes to previous tasting two years ago. Blackberries, plums, blueberries and licorice in the nose with blackberries and some earthiness in the flavor. Medium to full bodied, and a medium to long finish. (1234 views) | | | Tasted by IAmVintage on 9/29/2019 & rated 92 points: Aerated, decanted, held 30 minutes. Lived a perfect life in our cellar and still showing strongly with chewy black fruit, smoked leather, indistinguishable savory herbs in mid palate, acidity lingered with black pepper through the finish. Very enjoyable as we've come to know so many well aged Pax Syrahs. Perfect with dry rubbed BBQ bone-in ribeyes. (1225 views) | | | Tasted by jfkwines on 3/15/2019: DOA (1142 views) | | | Tasted by brettay on 12/17/2018 & rated 89 points: Quite evolved, this is nice but I bet I would have enjoyed it more 5 years ago. The wine exudes savory elements with a nose that is awash in smoke and minerals. Pax from this era were impenetrable in their youth, however this wine is surprisingly open on the palate with black and red fruits, garrigue, smoke and minerals. There is a lot of acidity and the tannins are still very prominent. The wine is nice, but lacks some balance and elegance. Give the wine a bit of air as it gained in depth and intensity for several hours after being opened. (1159 views) | | | Tasted by redz on 4/29/2018 & rated 92 points: Initial tartness resolved with 2-3 hr decant. Agree with previous note, perhaps a little lighter, less tar than some other Pax’s. Has more time. (1322 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 12/23/2017 & rated 92 points: Blueberries and licorice in the nose with blackberries and some earthiness in the flavor. Medium to full bodied, this wine is drinking well now, but stylistically is not like most other Pax Syrahs. (1461 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 10/20/2017 & rated 92 points: very sweet on the nose with cedar and minty notes. A little jammy after 2 hours. Later on showed floral and almost 'soapy' notes. (1443 views) | | | Tasted by jfkwines on 9/23/2017: Opened and let sit for an hour. Fine with a rib eye bit not the full mouth feel I was looking for. Integration is good and wine has depth ,just not flavor characteristics I expected. Might be the wine, bottle variance over my last one or just the time exposed to air. I have one left and I am not going to be shy about opening it but I am not on a great rush either (1415 views) | | | Tasted by Francophile1 on 1/21/2017 & rated 91 points: Great paired with a prime NY strip last night. Wonderful nose of crushed rocks, mineral, black fruits jump from the glass. Classic pepper on the finish, but the pepper is not overdone as is with many Syrahs. A little herbal note on the finish with a touch of band-aid/brett. Fully mature, no need to decant... pop n pour and enjoy. (1815 views) | | | Tasted by GoBlue2002 on 12/10/2016 & rated 91 points: Brought to the Meetup tasting in MPLS.
Opened ~1.5 hrs before consumption.
A mature Cali syrah -- ready to go.
Different than my other Pax syrahs (due to 13.9% ABV), this showed very little fruit and distinct herbal elements.
Me - 90/91, Wife - 91/92 (1572 views) | | | Tasted by GrandeSerataFuori on 10/25/2016 & rated 90 points: Again, best older Pax I've had. Very mellow. Touch of cooked berries, but more tarragon and cumin. OK that it's my last bottle as I don't think it'll improve. (1598 views) | | | Tasted by TwoSmoochies on 10/16/2016 & rated 87 points: Downward slope (1487 views) | | | Tasted by 560 B&W on 10/3/2015 & rated 92 points: Decanted. Delightful balance with substantial depth. Probably has another 5 years in its prime. 13.9% (2137 views) | | | Tasted by jfkwines on 9/25/2015 & rated 91 points: Beautiful integration, soaring as a wine, opened and let sit for one hour. Berries and plums, no serious tannin (1805 views) | | | Tasted by Sennma on 6/21/2015 & rated 87 points: Dark and rich...very black fruit focuses with a hint of smoke, bacon fat. Quite nice, don't see much upside from here. Drink up. (1917 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.2005 Pax Syrah The Terraces Alder Springs Vineyard ; From Winemaker : As always the Syrah from this block is picked at the same time as the Viognier. Both are incorporated into the same tank and co-fermented as a single wine. Decadent, heady, aromatic and creamy in its youth; this wine will continue to evolve into a beautiful wine for many years to come but still drink well on release. This is never as "big" as the Emerald Pool or even the regular Alder bottling, but boy is it decadent and hedonistic!
; Tasting note : White and purple flowers, orange blossoms, red and black raspberries, rhubarb, ripe pear, brioche and creosote linger on the effusive aromas of this wine. In the mouth a thick and creamy attack of sweet black and blue fruits and marzipan is lengthened and brightened by tart bing cherries and peach pie. The palate is velvety smooth and the wine picks up notions of sweet creme, grilled strawberries, dried rose petal, Bergamot tea and orange cremesicle as the finish lingers in your mouth.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 North CoastThe North Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA) in California, covering more than three million acres, includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, and portions of Marin and Solano counties. (see The Wine Institute for more information)Mendocino County Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission
Eagle Peak, Mendocino County AVA:
http://eaglepeakava.com/
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=139785
https://winesvinesanalytics.com/news/article/139898 |
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