2007 Pax Syrah Cuvée Keltie

The 2007 Pax Cellars Syrah Cuvee Keltie (100% Syrah, 100% whole clusters, 150 cases produced) was aged 26 months in neutral French oak. It is meant to be a long-lived wine, and I suspect it will evolve for 15-20+ years. A dense purple color is followed by aromas of smoky bacon fat, bouquet garni, blackberries, and cassis, gripping tannin (which makes the wine forbodingly backward at present), and lots of rustic meat and earth undertones. This big, robust, almost savage wine could easily be confused with a top Cornas from France’s northern Rhone. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring, and enjoy it over the following two decades. The troubled departure of Pax Mahle as winemaker from this operation owned primarily by Joe Donelan has resulted in a change of name. Coinciding with the 2008s, this is now Donelan Family Wines. The reviews that follow include the 2007s, the last wines produced under the Pax Cellars moniker, with the 2008s to be released under the Donelan Family Wines. Pax Mahle now has his own up-and-coming winery called Wind Gap. One of the most interesting vineyards Donelan has used is the Obsidian Vineyard in Knight’s Valley. This vineyard’s soil resembles black marble, and the result is an extraordinary wine with characteristics that are nearly impossible to articulate. Tel. (707) 592-0782; Fax (707) 591-0784