Rich and decadent in the old Pax style. Age has not slowed this party guy down. Nose shows maraschino liqueur and sweet Thai basil. Palette shows blackberry preserves, sweet herbs, and black currant. Round and long mouthfeel. Velvety tannins and long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Great balance between the dark black cherry fruit and liquid stones. Such fragrance to the mineralogy which is beautifully pure and expressive. All of this is presented on the base of classic Syrah roasted meats. Stil has plenty of life and tannin left.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine drinks beautifully today with a good intensity, a broad aromatic spectrum and good precision. While it‘s in its prime drinking window I don‘t think that it is even close to declining and it might even further improve with more teritary aromatics. While certainly ripe, this is still on the elegant side and still wise not much different from a great Cote Rotie.
TN: A wide array of dark fruits, green bell pepper, dark spices, vegetale aromas, tobacco on the nose and palate. Ripe but not too ripe, intense, well delineated and embedded in a very impressive structural frame marked by good freshness, silky tannins, a very good creamy yet fresh texture. Good length too.
Decanting: Not decanted. Good from the go, no decant needed other than to remove the sediment.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Still going strong. Very nice. Intense deep dark fruit, very well balanced. Complex flavors. Goes with a wide variety of foods and very nice on its own. Would love to have more. Lots of fine sediment. Required careful decanting - worth doing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Didn't use much of a decant, but the fruit and structure of this wine was impressive. Much better than I was expecting given recent notes of have read on other Pax wines of this age. This was right up my alley as these wines are big and I enjoy them more with a little less "volume on the speakers".
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
My last bottle, and in fact one of my last pre-schism Pax wines. Boysenberry, tar, and earth, with acid providing the structure. Drinking well, and I'm confident drinking it now; while I think it will hold awhile, I think it's probably as good now as it will ever be. Delicious!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Aromatics and flavirs of boysenberry, hints of menthol, lavender with a light tar and smoke. This wine is aging gracefully and should be enjoyed while the fruit is alive. EG #WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Intense and complex full bodied wine. Very tasty and at 10 years it is feeling close to its peak but could have more to go. Deep dark fruits and hints of tobacco with earthy undertones make this a very nice bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
FROM MAGNUM: A tasty Syrah with modest heat and loads of depth. Black and blue fruits, some red fruits lurking underneath. Smooth but still some thick tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drank blind and thought it was the best wine of the night. Decanted for 4 hours. Really drinking well now. I am looking forward to the next bottle. Same characteristics as my previous note.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dinner with Friends (Edwin's/Our Backyard by the Fire): Pop and pour, this is still young and needs time/air. It took at least an hour to really open but at the two hour mark, it was great. Very much a cooler climate Syrah in style. The nose has boysenberries, black olives and some bacon fat. Sinewy and austere but on a large frame. Air helped it fill out a bit, but never flamboyant or large. Nice acidity. Show complexity as it unwinds in the glass. Most of the table really found this wine way too much work though and went on to other wines. That ended up being good as when the other bottles were drained, I could go back to this after it had a lot of air.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 2:15, then rebottled, transported to tasting site, and uncorked for another hour. wow, still very tight at the onset but opened nicely (earth, dark fruit, herbs) by the time we were all losing our palates with dinner. no rush here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
If I hadn't read the label I would have nailed this one as an old school CA Petite Sirah with less of the black charcoal notes of those wines and more plummy fruit. Anyway, this one hasn't changed at all since I last tried it. Saturated black/purple in the glass, again with the nose of dark plum and cherry. In the mouth super tannic with round acidity and a bit of smoke. If you have any bottles save one until 2046 to use as a testament whether this style of CA Syrah from this era can age properly. I kind of think it will...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Lovely wine. Blackberry, black olives and bacon predominate. Dense and sturdy, but fresh and not at all tiring. The second night was as good or better than the first night. It could probably go more years, but it had developed all the secondary/tertiary characteristics, so now was a good time to drink it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Had backstage at City Winery Nashville, from my cellar. Pop N Pour. A beautiful color, but not a beauty in the mouth. An abrupt finish. Not sure if more time or a long decant would fix this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Brought this to a Nuevo Mexicano restaurante and wow, great pairings. Went well with spicy beef dishes. Nicely integrated tannins with well preserved fruit. A little heat, but not offensive. Sl overpaid at San Diego wine bank but Pax is now a real collector's item and this bottle proves why. Crazy good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is exactly what I was hoping for. First tried this wine several years ago and it was so tight and unexpressive, but the potential was there. Now the fruit has come forward and the tannins and wood have mellowed. I think this has another 5 years ahead of it of prime drinking window and who knows what happens after that. Did a 45 min decant and that seemed to work. Could have been longer but didn't seem necessary.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Almost black in the glass, powerful aromas of dark fruit, lavender and smoke, simply great. Probably did not decant long enough to get the full effect. 2hrs would be right, we did 30-45 min.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
From Magnum. A massive fruit bomb with jammy blueberries dominating. Tannins are still pretty thick but relatively smooth. The alcohol of 15+% was not completely hidden, but it would be hard to do.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Hasn't evolved much since our previous bottle, but that's not a bad thing; still a nice mix of fruit and complexity, and some unresolved tannins. If you have any more bottles, let them be for another couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
If we didn't drink two bottles that were fairly consistent I would have thought something was wrong with this wine (ie an isolated bad bottle). Decanted for a hour before consuming. It was off, a bit racy and not what I expect from Pax. Fully body, nice nose but kinda jammy with tannins and heat like a zin. Oh well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The nose is cool climate Syrah, with bacon fat, floral notes, dark fruit and minerality. The palate is medium + bodied dark fruits, licorice, minerals. Medium ripeness but restrained, with good structure and nice finish. 91 Points
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Another tasty bottle that needed an hour to fully open. Loads of overripe black fruit to the core that hides the 15+% alcohol very well. Tannins still have a little grit to them and are a bit chewy. A real mouthful of a wine with a 40 second finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
More than a fruit bomb. An explosion of overripe but not jammy black and blue fruits. The tannins still have some grit to them but the wine smooth enough and the 15% alcohol well hidden. There is also some nice vanilla Oak here as well. This wine might improve a tad over the next few years if the alcohol can stay hidden.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
At first i thought this wine was over its peak, but after 90 minutes it started to come full circle. Dark berries, charcoal, campfire, and well delineated tannins. Beautiful.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wow, I just read my last tasting notes and they match exactly. Hmmmmm. What does this mean? Decant and drink now or wait and possibly loose the fruit that may be there....................decant and drink! EG WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The nose is classic Syrah, with bacon fat, floral notes, dark fruit and a rocky minerality. The palate is medium + bodied, with a great degree of ripeness but balancing elements of tannin and acid still present on the finish. This wine shows the best side of CA Syrah - ripe but restrained, with floral and fruit elements perfectly balanced by structure. This is drinking beautifully now, but I have one bottle left that I'll watch evolve over the next 1-3 years....it's in a good place but I think it can get even a little bit better if you are patient ( secretly I wish I had more! ).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Blackberry nose, dark opaque red color. Lots of blackberry fruit on the palate, tannins still there if you swirl. Fruit balanced by acid and alcohol. This may continue to immprove, but it's in a good place right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Your typical Pax, but much, much more Tannic. Echoing many of the comments here, there is a great opportunity for aging. Dealers choice when opening, lots of deep plum and dark fruit off the top-1 hour of decanting. After that it starts to mellow into a Rhone tasting Syrah, with more of the earthy elements taking over, and the dark fruit leaving. Good stuff.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Blackberry, roasted meat, lilac, lavender. I am always really struck by the floral notes of the Pax, and now Donelan, wines. Really beautiful and tender, but bold at the same time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge! A bit of overkill with this one at Thanksgiving but if you like black, tannic Syrahs then go for it. Nicely complex nose at this point. Will go for many years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for 30 minutes before service. In the glass, very dark purplish-red. On the nose, a pleasant mixture of crushed blackberries and grenache liqueur. On the palate, more of the same, with surprisingly well-blended tannins and acidity. I was expecting more structure and firmness, but this has already come together relatively well. This still has a few years of improvement ahead of it, but it's certainly enjoyable now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge, full-bodied blackberry fruit with gamey, meaty.pepper, and cedary flavors, loads of tannin, good structure, short finish, needs lots of time, maybe will need soften without losing the fruit which is reminiscent of Dunn and Turley
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Great character and individuality on this wine! Way to go Cali Syrah!
Color: Purple and red, mostly dark core
Nose: Currants, cracked peppercorn, a touch of meat, grilled herbs and spices, later some wild blueberry, lavender, and charcoal appear.
Palate: The aromas come through on the palate, plus secondary flavors of blueberries and very clear and pure currants, some bell pepper and good bitterness from what coudl be stems in the fermentation.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
What a great expressive nose of blackberries, meat and spices, I have had 5 bottles of this over the course of this year and all with consistent notes. Big flavors of dark fruits, pepper and earth, but well balanced with a long finish. Glad I purchased a case, as it has become a favorite.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Slightly better than my previous note. Great combination of iron, meat, and fruit aromatics. Solid on day one, excellent on day two. This was mostly due to integration of the acidity which was a bit disjointed on day one. I'm a buyer all day for $30.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Enjoyed on the deck on a cool fall evening with skirt steak and roast potatoes; Rich and full-bodied, but it is all in balance -- the savory notes of bacon, olive, and (yes) green peas, the sweet dark berry fruit, and the silky texture on the midpalate. Now that it has calmed down and come together, this is a better-than-expected food wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Surprisingly nice; full of very ripe cherry and berried fruits, Provencal herbs and earth with a black pepper seasoning that becomes increasingly vivid and intense with air. Comes across like a young Chateauneuf; quite ripe, concentrated and powerful though showing a little alcohol on the back end.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine truly needs to breath to open up. Decanted for one hour but couldn't help myself and poured a tiny bit. Typical aromatics of cedar, menthol and that wonderful bacon fat. I found this bottle to be quite open in the mouth with loads of crushed berries with silky finings. Thanks Joe. EG WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The nose is essentially blackberry jam with brown sugar. The palate follows with blackberries, bacon, beef, and a nice streak of acid to clean it all up. A bit of grit on the texture and missing is the usual blood/iron note. Very long finish. Tasty.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dense blackberry jam with undertones of pepper spice and some woody bark. Opened slowly but was well balanced and had nice body with a fruity finish; will definitely develop further over the coming years. Loved this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge nose, dark and woody with some blueberry. The palate is thick and coating. A bit gritty, hints of blood. Still awfully tannic. Needs some time but I enjoyed it for what it is.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Popped and poured, but formal notes taken after 2.5 hours open in bottle. Inky, glass, tongue and lip staining purple. Blueberry, blackberry, lilac and lavender on the nose. Cedar, spice box, forest floor and blackberry jam on the palate. Tannins are still pretty fierce on this one, but not unpleasant if you know what you are getting yourself into. Long, long finish . . . that draws you back for more. Addictive.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for a few hours and than comsumed over a couple hours. Nice balance and not overly concentrated as some Pax. Loved the the dark fruit, meat, and pepper on the nose and finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Good. High toned dark fruit on the nose combined with iron and some meat. Solid core of fruit with excellent acidity. Finishes with strong tannin that is a bit much at current, even with a decant. I'd buy more for the $30 price but wait on drinking it for a year or so.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for 2 hours, consumed over 2 nights. Huge ripe black fruits that stop just short of jammy. Dries out on the finish from what I perceive as oak. Night 2 the oak has fully integrated and now the wine has picked up a salty quality that is quite nice. O.K to drink now with some air- no trace of heat either night.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Rich, extracted Syrah with a slightly sweet nose of candied plums. This is not a light wine, but one that is full of body, but the tannins start overtaking the fruit mid taste. I don't think there is a lot of complexity in these wines, but they sure make a statement of fruit intensity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The was a bunch of tar, roasted meat, and smoke on the nose. There was also black currant, black cherry, pepper, and a slight hint of oak. The palate was rich and thick, and had a boat load of tar and black fruit. Underneath that was pepper, meat juice, and smoke. It was fairly tannic, but not unpleasantly so.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Yesterday this wine got a 3 hour decant. It was pretty much brooding and impenetrable throughout those 3 hours, big and complex from the get go but crying out for char-grilled pepper lamb or something to cut it back to size. Today the nose is just fantastic, if a touch austere, with white pepper and bacon fat and boysenberry tumbling out of the glass. The palate has a meaty black fruit core with black olive and a solid tannic spine, and it is just getting better and better as its stemmy character gets more integrated the longer the wine is open. I tasted this from barrel and bottle at separate tastings at Pax, and find today the same pure fruit quality as before even as it has coiled up in its structure a little bit. Sleep this 3-6 years and expect a 95 point wine when you wake it up.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Brought this to Alaska, knowing it was likely too young. Score may surge in the future, but right now this crazy, massive, syrupy, meaty wine was a bit too much. Day one would have been a point or two lower even, but it softened a bit on the 2nd day.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Pax Tasting (Brookline): Easily the most tannic wine of the lot (as expected). After 4 hours in the decanter this wine revealed the salty, spicy, smokey meat character that makes this wine great. Ripe friut plays nicely with the meat and spice character. Too early to drink for sure, but I love cracking into this wine. Will drink one again in 2011, when I hope it will be singing!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dark inky red. The nose has intense, concentrated fruits, meat, spices. As for the palate, I should have listened to herberto. Fierce, agressive, almost overpowering tannin. Kind of like chewing on a bananna peel. Good acidity and what seems to be a good amount of fruit on the palate. Finishes with more fruit, some coffee and roast beef. There's actually quite a lot to like in the wine. Give it 2 or 3 hours in the decanter if you feel like punishing yourself now, otherwise, best to wait a couple years. Lots of potential down the line.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Don't drink this wine. Not yet. The tannin is aggressive, mouthpuckering. Under the tannins, the wine has great concentration and weight, without being tiring. Tar, tobacco and roasted game.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
12/17/2022 - Amerique wrote: 95 Points
Blackberry fruit had faded compared to tannins with pencil lead flavors but surprisingly good wine
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/3/2022 - Bob & Sue Atlanta wrote: 94 Points
Outstanding upon opening. This still has many years of life left in it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/26/2021 - yaCellar Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich and decadent in the old Pax style. Age has not slowed this party guy down. Nose shows maraschino liqueur and sweet Thai basil. Palette shows blackberry preserves, sweet herbs, and black currant. Round and long mouthfeel. Velvety tannins and long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/28/2021 - BerkeleyBoy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Excellent after a 1-hr. slow ox.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/26/2021 - brettay wrote: 92 Points
Great balance between the dark black cherry fruit and liquid stones. Such fragrance to the mineralogy which is beautifully pure and expressive. All of this is presented on the base of classic Syrah roasted meats. Stil has plenty of life and tannin left.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/6/2020 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
This wine drinks beautifully today with a good intensity, a broad aromatic spectrum and good precision. While it‘s in its prime drinking window I don‘t think that it is even close to declining and it might even further improve with more teritary aromatics. While certainly ripe, this is still on the elegant side and still wise not much different from a great Cote Rotie.
TN: A wide array of dark fruits, green bell pepper, dark spices, vegetale aromas, tobacco on the nose and palate. Ripe but not too ripe, intense, well delineated and embedded in a very impressive structural frame marked by good freshness, silky tannins, a very good creamy yet fresh texture. Good length too.
Decanting: Not decanted. Good from the go, no decant needed other than to remove the sediment.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/3/2020 - rpenn77 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Rich dark fruit with a touch too much alcohol on the finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/8/2019 - TonyH wrote: 92 Points
This is how I like my slightly too old Pax. Rich full and complex.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/20/2018 - sayward Likes this wine: 92 Points
Really still doing well. Fruit was still there. Wood a little mellowed. Went really well with steak.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/18/2018 - mac-eye Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still going strong. Very nice.
Intense deep dark fruit, very well balanced. Complex flavors. Goes with a wide variety of foods and very nice on its own. Would love to have more.
Lots of fine sediment. Required careful decanting - worth doing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/24/2018 - sayward Likes this wine: 92 Points
Didn't use much of a decant, but the fruit and structure of this wine was impressive. Much better than I was expecting given recent notes of have read on other Pax wines of this age. This was right up my alley as these wines are big and I enjoy them more with a little less "volume on the speakers".
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/21/2017 - Jay Hack Likes this wine:
Date approximate. Early predictions of its demise were greatly exaggerated. Still going strong and youthful.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/18/2017 - alpha_ori Likes this wine: 92 Points
My last bottle, and in fact one of my last pre-schism Pax wines. Boysenberry, tar, and earth, with acid providing the structure. Drinking well, and I'm confident drinking it now; while I think it will hold awhile, I think it's probably as good now as it will ever be. Delicious!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/21/2017 - kkleg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark and brooding, with quite a bit of sediment. I suggest decanting to remove the sediment, even though we didn't.
Ultra ripe blueberry and bacon fat on the nose, with beautiful funky earth notes. Similar flavors on the palate, with a really long, lingering finish.
Fantastic now and probably at peak, but will keep for 5+ years at least.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/7/2017 - ews3 wrote: 93 Points
really big and bruising, but impressive complexity. can't believe this is over a decade old! nice herbal notes. long finish shows a touch of heat.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/17/2017 - WineArchitect Likes this wine:
Aromatics and flavirs of boysenberry, hints of menthol, lavender with a light tar and smoke. This wine is aging gracefully and should be enjoyed while the fruit is alive. EG #WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/6/2016 - wildedge Likes this wine: 92 Points
Intense and complex full bodied wine. Very tasty and at 10 years it is feeling close to its peak but could have more to go. Deep dark fruits and hints of tobacco with earthy undertones make this a very nice bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/11/2016 - alpha_ori Likes this wine: 92 Points
This bottle is less aromatic and more high-toned than others I've had. Still quite enjoyable.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/30/2016 - pjhr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Delicious boysenberry, mineral, and tobacco on the nose and palate within a firm structure and tasty tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/18/2016 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 91 Points
FROM MAGNUM: A tasty Syrah with modest heat and loads of depth. Black and blue fruits, some red fruits lurking underneath. Smooth but still some thick tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/23/2016 - sayward Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank blind and thought it was the best wine of the night. Decanted for 4 hours. Really drinking well now. I am looking forward to the next bottle. Same characteristics as my previous note.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/7/2015 - leadpencil wrote: 93 Points
Full bodied. Blackberry syrup. Hints of iron.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/4/2015 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 93 Points
Dinner with Friends (Edwin's/Our Backyard by the Fire): Pop and pour, this is still young and needs time/air. It took at least an hour to really open but at the two hour mark, it was great. Very much a cooler climate Syrah in style. The nose has boysenberries, black olives and some bacon fat. Sinewy and austere but on a large frame. Air helped it fill out a bit, but never flamboyant or large. Nice acidity. Show complexity as it unwinds in the glass. Most of the table really found this wine way too much work though and went on to other wines. That ended up being good as when the other bottles were drained, I could go back to this after it had a lot of air.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/17/2015 - MLD70 wrote:
Decanted 2:15, then rebottled, transported to tasting site, and uncorked for another hour. wow, still very tight at the onset but opened nicely (earth, dark fruit, herbs) by the time we were all losing our palates with dinner. no rush here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/20/2015 - 560 B&W Likes this wine: 91 Points
Giant. PnP. Tannins still big, but manageable. Many years ahead. 15.3%
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/20/2015 - locovino wrote: 94 Points
If I hadn't read the label I would have nailed this one as an old school CA Petite Sirah with less of the black charcoal notes of those wines and more plummy fruit. Anyway, this one hasn't changed at all since I last tried it. Saturated black/purple in the glass, again with the nose of dark plum and cherry. In the mouth super tannic with round acidity and a bit of smoke. If you have any bottles save one until 2046 to use as a testament whether this style of CA Syrah from this era can age properly. I kind of think it will...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/16/2014 - ChrisR Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lovely wine. Blackberry, black olives and bacon predominate. Dense and sturdy, but fresh and not at all tiring. The second night was as good or better than the first night. It could probably go more years, but it had developed all the secondary/tertiary characteristics, so now was a good time to drink it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/24/2014 - GrandeSerataFuori wrote: 86 Points
Had backstage at City Winery Nashville, from my cellar. Pop N Pour. A beautiful color, but not a beauty in the mouth. An abrupt finish. Not sure if more time or a long decant would fix this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/18/2014 - kennyg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Brought this to a Nuevo Mexicano restaurante and wow, great pairings. Went well with spicy beef dishes. Nicely integrated tannins with well preserved fruit. A little heat, but not offensive. Sl overpaid at San Diego wine bank but Pax is now a real collector's item and this bottle proves why. Crazy good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/3/2014 - sayward Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is exactly what I was hoping for. First tried this wine several years ago and it was so tight and unexpressive, but the potential was there. Now the fruit has come forward and the tannins and wood have mellowed. I think this has another 5 years ahead of it of prime drinking window and who knows what happens after that. Did a 45 min decant and that seemed to work. Could have been longer but didn't seem necessary.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/30/2014 - wino121 wrote: 92 Points
Almost black in the glass, powerful aromas of dark fruit, lavender and smoke, simply great.
Probably did not decant long enough to get the full effect.
2hrs would be right, we did 30-45 min.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/22/2014 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 91 Points
From Magnum. A massive fruit bomb with jammy blueberries dominating. Tannins are still pretty thick but relatively smooth. The alcohol of 15+% was not completely hidden, but it would be hard to do.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/9/2014 - jshufelt wrote: 92 Points
Hasn't evolved much since our previous bottle, but that's not a bad thing; still a nice mix of fruit and complexity, and some unresolved tannins. If you have any more bottles, let them be for another couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/3/2014 - greyhound93 wrote: 86 Points
If we didn't drink two bottles that were fairly consistent I would have thought something was wrong with this wine (ie an isolated bad bottle). Decanted for a hour before consuming. It was off, a bit racy and not what I expect from Pax. Fully body, nice nose but kinda jammy with tannins and heat like a zin. Oh well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/17/2013 - sastewart wrote: 91 Points
The nose is cool climate Syrah, with bacon fat, floral notes, dark fruit and minerality. The palate is medium + bodied dark fruits, licorice, minerals. Medium ripeness but restrained, with good structure and nice finish. 91 Points
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/24/2013 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Another tasty bottle that needed an hour to fully open. Loads of overripe black fruit to the core that hides the 15+% alcohol very well. Tannins still have a little grit to them and are a bit chewy. A real mouthful of a wine with a 40 second finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/23/2013 - Amerique wrote: 92 Points
Previous notes apply, time has softened the still dominant tannins making the wine more accessible, but fruit has slightly faded as well
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/7/2013 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 93 Points
More than a fruit bomb. An explosion of overripe but not jammy black and blue fruits. The tannins still have some grit to them but the wine smooth enough and the 15% alcohol well hidden. There is also some nice vanilla Oak here as well. This wine might improve a tad over the next few years if the alcohol can stay hidden.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/13/2013 - ScottPreston Likes this wine: 92 Points
At first i thought this wine was over its peak, but after 90 minutes it started to come full circle. Dark berries, charcoal, campfire, and well delineated tannins. Beautiful.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/29/2012 - WineArchitect Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow, I just read my last tasting notes and they match exactly. Hmmmmm. What does this mean? Decant and drink now or wait and possibly loose the fruit that may be there....................decant and drink!
EG WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/10/2012 - bobpsi Likes this wine: 93 Points
Similar to previous notes
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/26/2012 - davidga75 wrote:
The nose is classic Syrah, with bacon fat, floral notes, dark fruit and a rocky minerality. The palate is medium + bodied, with a great degree of ripeness but balancing elements of tannin and acid still present on the finish. This wine shows the best side of CA Syrah - ripe but restrained, with floral and fruit elements perfectly balanced by structure. This is drinking beautifully now, but I have one bottle left that I'll watch evolve over the next 1-3 years....it's in a good place but I think it can get even a little bit better if you are patient ( secretly I wish I had more! ).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/30/2012 - ksmith wrote: 92 Points
Blackberry nose, dark opaque red color. Lots of blackberry fruit on the palate, tannins still there if you swirl. Fruit balanced by acid and alcohol. This may continue to immprove, but it's in a good place right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/4/2012 - bobpsi wrote: 93 Points
1 hr decant. Similar to previous notes. Big nose of of black and blue fruits,surrounded by savory flavors. Great long smooth finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/9/2012 - bobpsi wrote: 93 Points
Similar to previous notes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/22/2012 - sbtoby wrote: 92 Points
Your typical Pax, but much, much more Tannic. Echoing many of the comments here, there is a great opportunity for aging. Dealers choice when opening, lots of deep plum and dark fruit off the top-1 hour of decanting. After that it starts to mellow into a Rhone tasting Syrah, with more of the earthy elements taking over, and the dark fruit leaving. Good stuff.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/16/2012 - nfafoglia wrote: 93 Points
Pretty flowers and minerals on the nose. Black pepper, coffee, graphite, and black fruit, with a tinge of saddle leather. Drinking well right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/27/2012 - brianngibson wrote: 94 Points
Blackberry, roasted meat, lilac, lavender. I am always really struck by the floral notes of the Pax, and now Donelan, wines. Really beautiful and tender, but bold at the same time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/8/2012 - jnanz wrote:
Not even close. Tight and tannic. Brilliant notes of smokey meat, BBQ sauce(?) and blackberry. Probably needs another 4-5 years?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/16/2011 - Patrickm04 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark inky purple with aromas of meat and leather mixed with dark fruits. Long finish. Decanted 2 hours.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/27/2011 - locovino wrote: 93 Points
Huge! A bit of overkill with this one at Thanksgiving but if you like black, tannic Syrahs then go for it. Nicely complex nose at this point. Will go for many years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/23/2011 - bobpsi wrote: 93 Points
Similar notes as before. Big black fruit nose with savory notes. Black fruit dominant palate with olive and pepper finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/9/2011 - jshufelt wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for 30 minutes before service. In the glass, very dark purplish-red. On the nose, a pleasant mixture of crushed blackberries and grenache liqueur. On the palate, more of the same, with surprisingly well-blended tannins and acidity. I was expecting more structure and firmness, but this has already come together relatively well. This still has a few years of improvement ahead of it, but it's certainly enjoyable now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/22/2011 - jimmythesaint wrote:
Nice bottle of Pax. Loved the dark fruit, spice, roasted meat with a touch of fleur de Sel.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/13/2011 - Amerique wrote: 91 Points
Huge, full-bodied blackberry fruit with gamey, meaty.pepper, and cedary flavors, loads of tannin, good structure, short finish, needs lots of time, maybe will need soften without losing the fruit which is reminiscent of Dunn and Turley
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/22/2011 - tkoby11 wrote: 92 Points
Great character and individuality on this wine! Way to go Cali Syrah!
Color: Purple and red, mostly dark core
Nose: Currants, cracked peppercorn, a touch of meat, grilled herbs and spices, later some wild blueberry, lavender, and charcoal appear.
Palate: The aromas come through on the palate, plus secondary flavors of blueberries and very clear and pure currants, some bell pepper and good bitterness from what coudl be stems in the fermentation.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/5/2011 - 560 B&W wrote: 91 Points
Apr 5, 2011
Needs a bit more time
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2010 - grubmanda wrote: 91 Points
Exactly what California Shiraz should be. Great fruit. Paired with a nice filet and was a great complement.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/6/2010 - bobpsi wrote: 93 Points
What a great expressive nose of blackberries, meat and spices, I have had 5 bottles of this over the course of this year and all with consistent notes. Big flavors of dark fruits, pepper and earth, but well balanced with a long finish. Glad I purchased a case, as it has become a favorite.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/2/2010 - suthersm wrote: 91 Points
Slightly better than my previous note. Great combination of iron, meat, and fruit aromatics. Solid on day one, excellent on day two. This was mostly due to integration of the acidity which was a bit disjointed on day one. I'm a buyer all day for $30.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/17/2010 - sdatl wrote: 93 Points
Enjoyed on the deck on a cool fall evening with skirt steak and roast potatoes; Rich and full-bodied, but it is all in balance -- the savory notes of bacon, olive, and (yes) green peas, the sweet dark berry fruit, and the silky texture on the midpalate. Now that it has calmed down and come together, this is a better-than-expected food wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/16/2010 - salil wrote: 86 Points
Surprisingly nice; full of very ripe cherry and berried fruits, Provencal herbs and earth with a black pepper seasoning that becomes increasingly vivid and intense with air. Comes across like a young Chateauneuf; quite ripe, concentrated and powerful though showing a little alcohol on the back end.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/4/2010 - WineArchitect wrote: 91 Points
This wine truly needs to breath to open up. Decanted for one hour but couldn't help myself and poured a tiny bit. Typical aromatics of cedar, menthol and that wonderful bacon fat. I found this bottle to be quite open in the mouth with loads of crushed berries with silky finings. Thanks Joe. EG WineArchitect
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/28/2010 - Uglypinga wrote:
The nose is essentially blackberry jam with brown sugar. The palate follows with blackberries, bacon, beef, and a nice streak of acid to clean it all up. A bit of grit on the texture and missing is the usual blood/iron note. Very long finish. Tasty.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/30/2010 - wildedge Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dense blackberry jam with undertones of pepper spice and some woody bark. Opened slowly but was well balanced and had nice body with a fruity finish; will definitely develop further over the coming years. Loved this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/6/2010 - Jody Smith wrote:
Dense black berries, gritty tannin with tar and bacon fat notes. Long finish and ample acid to temper the rich fruit.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/14/2010 - Uglypinga wrote:
Huge nose, dark and woody with some blueberry. The palate is thick and coating. A bit gritty, hints of blood. Still awfully tannic. Needs some time but I enjoyed it for what it is.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/2/2010 - sayward wrote: 92 Points
decanted and it only opened up by my last glass. this wine has at least another year of evolution ahead of it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/3/2010 - brianngibson wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured, but formal notes taken after 2.5 hours open in bottle. Inky, glass, tongue and lip staining purple. Blueberry, blackberry, lilac and lavender on the nose. Cedar, spice box, forest floor and blackberry jam on the palate. Tannins are still pretty fierce on this one, but not unpleasant if you know what you are getting yourself into. Long, long finish . . . that draws you back for more. Addictive.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/28/2010 - jimmythesaint wrote: 91 Points
Decanted for a few hours and than comsumed over a couple hours. Nice balance and not overly concentrated as some Pax. Loved the the dark fruit, meat, and pepper on the nose and finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/3/2010 - suthersm wrote: 90 Points
Good. High toned dark fruit on the nose combined with iron and some meat. Solid core of fruit with excellent acidity. Finishes with strong tannin that is a bit much at current, even with a decant. I'd buy more for the $30 price but wait on drinking it for a year or so.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/19/2010 - glaze3 wrote:
Decanted for 2 hours, consumed over 2 nights. Huge ripe black fruits that stop just short of jammy. Dries out on the finish from what I perceive as oak. Night 2 the oak has fully integrated and now the wine has picked up a salty quality that is quite nice. O.K to drink now with some air- no trace of heat either night.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/16/2010 - Rustyca wrote: 91 Points
Rich, extracted Syrah with a slightly sweet nose of candied plums. This is not a light wine, but one that is full of body, but the tannins start overtaking the fruit mid taste. I don't think there is a lot of complexity in these wines, but they sure make a statement of fruit intensity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/26/2009 - TonyH wrote: 92 Points
Thanksgiving dinner.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/17/2009 - mmurry wrote: 92 Points
The was a bunch of tar, roasted meat, and smoke on the nose. There was also black currant, black cherry, pepper, and a slight hint of oak. The palate was rich and thick, and had a boat load of tar and black fruit. Underneath that was pepper, meat juice, and smoke. It was fairly tannic, but not unpleasantly so.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/30/2009 - vancouvermatt wrote: 92 Points
This needs a few years in the bottle to settle into itself!
Superb concentration, but loaded with tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/19/2009 - silton wrote: 93 Points
Yesterday this wine got a 3 hour decant. It was pretty much brooding and impenetrable throughout those 3 hours, big and complex from the get go but crying out for char-grilled pepper lamb or something to cut it back to size. Today the nose is just fantastic, if a touch austere, with white pepper and bacon fat and boysenberry tumbling out of the glass. The palate has a meaty black fruit core with black olive and a solid tannic spine, and it is just getting better and better as its stemmy character gets more integrated the longer the wine is open. I tasted this from barrel and bottle at separate tastings at Pax, and find today the same pure fruit quality as before even as it has coiled up in its structure a little bit. Sleep this 3-6 years and expect a 95 point wine when you wake it up.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/16/2009 - GrandeSerataFuori wrote: 88 Points
Brought this to Alaska, knowing it was likely too young. Score may surge in the future, but right now this crazy, massive, syrupy, meaty wine was a bit too much. Day one would have been a point or two lower even, but it softened a bit on the 2nd day.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/16/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 93 Points
Pax Wine Cellars Tasting (Lee Allison Company - Chicago, IL): Tasted from a magnum. Fantastic. WOTD.
Very Rhone Hermitage like with accessible palate showing rustic red fruit with great depth.
Lots of earthy smoke. Layered fruit. Awesome.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/18/2009 - jnanz wrote: 93 Points
Pax Tasting (Brookline): Easily the most tannic wine of the lot (as expected). After 4 hours in the decanter this wine revealed the salty, spicy, smokey meat character that makes this wine great. Ripe friut plays nicely with the meat and spice character. Too early to drink for sure, but I love cracking into this wine. Will drink one again in 2011, when I hope it will be singing!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/11/2008 - kris.h wrote: 93 Points
Dark inky red. The nose has intense, concentrated fruits, meat, spices. As for the palate, I should have listened to herberto. Fierce, agressive, almost overpowering tannin. Kind of like chewing on a bananna peel. Good acidity and what seems to be a good amount of fruit on the palate. Finishes with more fruit, some coffee and roast beef. There's actually quite a lot to like in the wine. Give it 2 or 3 hours in the decanter if you feel like punishing yourself now, otherwise, best to wait a couple years. Lots of potential down the line.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/3/2008 - herberto wrote: 94 Points
Don't drink this wine. Not yet. The tannin is aggressive, mouthpuckering. Under the tannins, the wine has great concentration and weight, without being tiring. Tar, tobacco and roasted game.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment