Buddhas Dharma Chenin Blanc
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
pan-seared scallops, roasted pork loin, goat cheese tart
✨ Technical Specifications
Sourced from the historic Buddha's Dharma Vineyard in Mendocino County, this exceptional white wine is a tribute to California's old-vine heritage. Planted in 1944 on a high-elevation, dry-farmed site, the vineyard is tended with mindful, organic practices by a dedicated Buddhist practitioner, giving the site its spiritual name. Pax Mahle crafts this Chenin Blanc with a minimalist approach, employing whole-cluster pressing, native yeast fermentation, and aging in neutral French oak barrels. The result is a wine of striking purity, showcasing the intense minerality, vibrant acidity, and waxy texture characteristic of ancient Chenin Blanc vines.
🍾 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%