Pax Syrah, The Bench Vineyard, Clements Hills 2022 (750 ml)

Inspired by the rare southern rhone Syrah, a slight departure from our cool climate Syrahs, this wine shows those roasted flavors that you can only get from Syrah grown in sand in a warm spot. The low fertility sandy soils are derived from Granite and Tufa and form undulating “Hills” from the steady breezes from the west. These fine-grained soils grow fine grained wines.  We fermented this 100% Syrah with 100% Whole-Clusters and aged it in 500L French Oak Puncheons for six months before bottling this wine without any fining or filtration. 

100% Syrah

100% Whole Cluster Fermentation

Aged in neutral 500L French Oak Puncheons

6 months in Puncheons

Free SO2 @ Bottling 12 ppm

3.78 pH

13.0% Alc by Vol

Tasting Note:

Robust aromas of plums, tar and violets dominate the intoxicating aromas of this southern Rhone styled Syrah. Gritty and laced with baked pomegranate and cherry skin, this peppery Syrah shows the warmer climate it was grown in with its warm embrace of lucious baked red summer fruits and firm and vibrant personality. This medium bodied and spicy red will put on weight with time in your cellar and develop even more. 

Pax Wines:

Pax and Pam Mahle moved to wine country in 1997 to create a lifestyle that involved working with wine. After a few years of tasting and sourcing wine from all over California, Pax finally found a vineyard in which he felt a kismet connection. Alder Springs Vineyard was the site and subsequently led to the launch of the PAX brand in 2000.

The Mahles made a bold choice by favoring the “untapped potential"  of the Syrah grape. Their entire lineup of wines came from cool climate vineyards in  Sonoma County and Mendocino. These wines were big, rich expressions of Syrah that went on to be highly sought after. As a result, Pax quickly became established as one of California’s premier producers of Syrah.

Presently, Pax Wines has evolved to include new and exciting varieties in addition to Syrah. This includes Trousseau Gris, Chenin Blanc, Gamay Noir, and Mission, along with a host of others recently planted. 

At Pax Wines winemaking is approached holistically. This is done by taking care to use only grapes that are grown without the use of chemicals and by hand making their wines with as little intervention as possible. As a result, all of their wines are crushed by foot and hand, and fermented using only natural yeasts. To taste these wines visit the urban winery and tasting room in the outdoor Barlow market in downtown Sebastopol.

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