Syrah Alder Springs
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 5–15 years from vintage release.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Roasted lamb with rosemary, grilled venison, wild mushroom stew
✨ wine.spec_sheet
Perched in the rugged, wild terrain of northern Mendocino County, the Alder Springs Vineyard is a testament to extreme viticulture. Founded by Stuart Bewley in the late 1990s, this legendary site features steep, sandstone-rich slopes rising up to 2,700 feet above sea level, where cool Pacific breezes clash with intense high-altitude sunlight. Pax Mahle harnesses this dramatic terroir to craft a Syrah of exceptional tension and complexity. Embracing traditional, minimalist winemaking, the fruit undergoes whole-cluster fermentation with native yeasts and is aged in neutral French oak. The resulting wine is celebrated for its signature cool-climate profile, balancing dark, brambly fruit with savory notes of cracked black pepper, cured meat, and wild chaparral.
🍾 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.