Alder Springs Vineyard Chenin Blanc
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2027
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, roasted chicken, goat cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the rugged, high-altitude wilderness of northern Mendocino County, the Alder Springs Vineyard Chenin Blanc is a testament to extreme viticulture. Founded by Stuart Bewley in 1993, Alder Springs is legendary for its steep, fractured sandstone slopes and intense maritime influence, sitting just miles from the Pacific Ocean. Pax Mahle harnesses this unique terroir to craft a Chenin Blanc of striking purity and tension. Utilizing native yeast fermentation and aging in neutral French oak and concrete, the wine preserves the vineyard's signature flinty minerality, vibrant acidity, and textured mouthfeel. It stands as a brilliant California homage to the classic, bone-dry styles of the Loire Valley.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2000 by Pax and Pam Mahle, Pax Wines emerged as an influential champion of cool-climate California viticulture, initially earning renown for single-vineyard expressions of Syrah. Operating out of an urban winery and tasting cellar in Sebastopol's Barlow district, the domaine collaborates closely with growers across coastal Sonoma County, Mendocino, and the Sierra Foothills. Viticulture centers on organically and sustainably farmed heritage plots, frequently anchored in fractured shale, marine sandstone, and decomposed granite. While early vintages leaned rich and assertive, Pax evolved toward an uncompromising low-intervention ethos characterized by whole-cluster foot stomping, spontaneous fermentations driven by ambient yeasts, neutral French oak aging, and minimal sulfur. Beyond benchmark Syrah bottlings such as Alder Springs, Griffin's Lair, and Castelli-Knight Ranch, the portfolio explores esoteric and heritage white varieties, notably old-vine Chenin Blanc, Vermentino, and Pinot Blanc, celebrated for their tensile acidity, savory transparency, and mineral cut.
🍇 Grapes
Chenin Blanc
🍷 ABV
12% - 13%