I enjoyed a marvelous day in wine country on Saturday. A balmy 70 degrees (in contrast to the inferno of 100 degrees the weekend before, extremely sub-optimal given the impending harvest), the "BottleBus" traveled up the 101 with the first stop at Pax Winery. Winemaker Tyler Thomas was a gem, barrel-tasting us through a dozen of Pax wines. We began with two delightful tastings of single-vineyard lots of Rhone-valley whites, a Rousanne & Marsanne, that comprise Pax's "Venus" (85% Rousanne, 15% Viognier) and Nepenthe in their final blends. Wonderfully translucent, a straw yellow in color, both varieties demonstrated characteristics of banana creme pie/banana brule.
Next, we tried Pax's Grenache, that comprises the Cuvee Moira, a mere 500 cases in production. The Grenache was wonderfully chewy and tannic with overt sweet tobacco notes.
Thereafter, the study in Syrah began. We first tasted Pax's "beefy" Griffins Lair Syrah. Totally opaque with a slight ruby rim, black pepper aromatics prevailed amongst hearty tannins and flinty earth notes. After Griffins, we tasted by favorite of the day: the Alder Springs single vineyard block "The Knob." As Tyler and I concurred, the best description of this wine was simply "delicious." Also totally opaque, almost inky black, I was stunned by and loved the eucalyptus aromatics on this wine.
Thereafter, we tasted Syrahs that comprise the Cuvees Keltie and Christine. Tyler aptly described these barrel samples as "two version of what Syrah can be." The Keltie was much more "savory," not surprising as it was fermented with its stems, and the most "R
hone"-esque of the wines that we tasted on Saturday. By contrast, the Christine was much more "fruit-forward," or New World in style, meaning highly concentrated with blackberry juice in the mouthfeel.
The continuum of savory to fruit-forward was a wonderful framework for contemplating (Californian) Syrahs. While my personal preference is for the more savory in style, I greatly appreciated the line of demarcation between the classic "beef jerky/smoked meat" character of some of the Syrahs that we tasted vs. the blackberry/plum/sweet tobacco character of others. No matter the style, it is always fun to uncover those "dashes" of black and/or white pepper aromatics that typify Syrah.
Bottom line: a study in Syrah is always a stupendous way to start a Saturday. Pax Wines serve as perfect "coursework" - and goodness knows for consumption thereafter.
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