Pax Mahle Wines Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah 2016

Shay A

Annual Man Cave dinner. 80+ wines accompanied by zebra, oryx, buffalo, bison and any other African meat you can imagine. I bought some of these earlier this year but have been holding them. Luckily, someone brought a bottle so that I could check in on them. The nose on this blew me away...reminded me of a Sami-Odi wine in the way it was heavy, without being overbearing. Floral (violets, lavender) but also fruit (ripe, fresh squeezed blackberries) and smoked meat (mainly peppered strip). Love the low ABV (<13%). This is likely best enjoyed over the next 5 years. Wonderful bottle from @Arden Barnett .

John Howard

Harvest production at Hirsch and Cobb Wineries

Beautiful wine.

Stephen Solaka

Impressive effort. Iron, pepper, fruit and smoke.

Steve Matthiasson

Owner/Winemaker Matthiasson Wines

Knowing a little bit about Pax’s vision and sharing his strong belief that California vineyards can whisper poetry, not just belt out arias, this wine is a ten out of ten because it records the whispers perfectly, California Syrah whispers of a successful immigration from the Northern Rhône.

Antonio Galloni

Founder, Vinous

Utterly brilliant, magnificent wine. The 2016 is starting to shut down, but it is insanely beautiful and vivid, with a finish that lasts into the next day!

Delectable Wine

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The 2016 Syrah Sonoma-Hillsides has been nothing less than stunning on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. A wine of extraordinary purity and depth, the 2016 dazzles from the very first taste. The richness and power are simply breathtaking. Bacon fat, smoke, grilled herb and lavender are woven into a graceful, seamless core of inky blue/purplish fruit. Even with all of its intensity, the 2016 remains remarkably light on its feet. The Sonoma-Hillsides is a blend of fruit from Castelli-Knight Ranch, Griffin's Lair and Walker Vine Hill, done with 100% whole clusters and aged in a combination of concrete and neutral oak, with no SO2. I am not sure how the 2016 will age, but I am also not sure it will matter, as most bottles will be long gone before that is an issue. Quite simply, the Sonoma-Hillsides is a total pleasure bomb and a modern-day benchmark for Syrah in California. Don't miss it! (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, April 2018)

Patrick Derdeyn

The ratings below from Steve Matthiason and Raj Parr tell you everything you need to know about this wine. 2 heroes of California wine singing its praises. On Pax’s recommendation I opened one early, I immediately regretted that decision. Not because it’s not good, it is fact VERY good but I wouldn’t come to find that out until I had it open for SIX days. It took that long for the layers and layers of fruit to peel back to reveal the structure underneath. I can only rate now based on day 6, but in 10 years I might be able to go 100pts just like Steve did.

Rajat Parr

Founder Sandhi Wines & Domaine de la Côte, Evening Lands Vineyards, Seven Springs & Maison l'Oree

An ode to Raymond Trollat with that label!!

Scott Soren

This is my second time with this wine, Vinious media gave this 100 points, and as a lover of Pax wines, I still can’t get there. While it’s a nice wine it’s a massive fruit bomb at the moment with some underlying back side subtleties of elegance. Time is still needed and i probably won’t take another shot at this for at least 2-3 years.