Cuvee Moriah
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 3–10 years from vintage release.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Roasted duck, grilled lamb chops, wild mushroom tart
✨ wine.spec_sheet
Pax Mahle's Cuvée Moriah is a heartfelt tribute to his daughter, Moriah, and a masterful expression of California's potential for Southern Rhône-style blends. Sourced from cool-climate, high-altitude vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, this cuvée represents a departure from the heavy, over-extracted styles once dominant in California. Instead, Pax utilizes traditional, low-intervention winemaking techniques, including concrete-tank fermentation, whole-cluster inclusion, and aging in neutral French oak puncheons. The result is a wine of immense soul and vitality, balancing the bright, peppery red fruit of Grenache with the savory, structured depth of Syrah and Mourvèdre. It reflects the rugged beauty of the Northern California coast, where maritime breezes and diverse soils coax out complex aromatics of wild herbs, lavender, and dark earth.
🍾 wine.about_producer
Founded in 2000 by Pax and Pamela Mahle, Pax is a pioneering Sonoma County winery celebrated for redefining California Syrah through a lens of elegance and restraint. Based in Sebastopol, California, the winery sources fruit from cool-climate, coastal-influenced vineyards across Sonoma and Mendocino counties, such as the acclaimed Alder Springs and Castelli Knight Ranch. Pax's winemaking philosophy centers on minimal intervention, employing whole-cluster fermentation, native yeasts, and aging in concrete vats and neutral French oak to highlight pure terroir. The estate is highly renowned for its savory, structurally complex Syrahs, alongside vibrant, terroir-driven expressions of Gamay, Chenin Blanc, and Mondeuse.