The Bench Vermentino
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2025
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Grilled sea bass, linguine with basil pesto, fresh goat cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
Pax's exploration of Mediterranean varieties shines in 'The Bench' Vermentino, sourced from the gravelly, alluvial soils of the Clement Hills in Lodi. Inspired by the crisp, coastal white wines of Liguria and Sardinia, winemaker Pax Mahle crafts this expression to capture the grape's natural, vibrant acidity and distinctive saline minerality. Fermented with native yeasts and aged in neutral vessels to preserve its fresh fruit profile, this wine represents California's modern embrace of alternative varieties, delivering a beautifully textured palate balanced by bright citrus and stony undertones.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2000 by Pax and Pam Mahle, Pax Wines is an acclaimed artisanal producer based in Sebastopol within Sonoma County, California. Recognized as a pioneer of the New California wine movement, the winery focuses on cool-climate coastal terroirs across Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Pax champions a minimalist, old-world approach to vinification, utilizing whole-cluster fermentation, indigenous yeasts, and aging in neutral French oak and concrete tanks to preserve purity and freshness. The estate is widely celebrated for its benchmark, savory Syrah bottlings—such as the Sonoma-Hillsides and Alder Springs Vineyard designations—as well as dynamic, terroir-driven expressions of Gamay, Chenin Blanc, and heritage varieties.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Vermentino