Cult California

Six-Pack Offer – An A-list Duo from Pax and Beau Rivage by William Kelley
Cult California

Receive a 15% discount on purchases of six bottles or more. Contact us to order. 

 

Hot couples strutting their stuff are a dime a dozen on Hollywood’s red carpets, but none come close to the star quality of this box-office Cali duo we’re offering as a specially priced, one-week-only, six-pack deal.

 

The wines in question complement each other beautifully. In the white corner, we have the 2020 Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc from the grape’s ideal West Coast base of Clarksburg. Cool evening breezes flowing across the Sacramento Delta retain succulent acidity, and the combination of soils and mesoclimate foster full, dry Chenin flavour at moderate alcohols. Renowned Burgundy critic-cum-Côte d’Or grower William Kelley kicked off this project with his friend Frank Ingriselli in 2017. The results have been outstanding, and the 2020 marks a high-water mark.

 

Rhône maestro Pax Mahle flies the red flag with his 2022 North Coast Syrah. This wine brings together cool, high parcels all the way from Sonoma up to the rolling hills of northern Mendocino County. It bears Pax’s hallmark deep-knit textures, freshness and slow-unfurling complexity. 

 

Far from the Californian clichés, it’s well known that the Golden State grows some singularly compelling wines. These two beauties take you to that thrilling frontier, and you won’t want to go back. 

The Wines

Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc 2020
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Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc 2020

This increasingly impressive Chenin Blanc is drawn from some of Clarksburg’s oldest vines, planted in the 1960s and sourced from a long-term organic grower. The grapes are picked in two lots: those from the sunny side of the vine were crushed to release extract, while fruit from the shadier side was pressed as whole clusters using a very long, firm cycle. The musts are fermented with indigenous yeasts and were raised in eight-year-old, low-toast Burgundy barrels. Kelley uses more and more solids each year, with the wines building texture and drive from their time on lees.

This year, the fruit was picked at about the same ripeness as in 2019, but the winemakers modified how they pressed the grapes to capture brighter acidity. Simply put, the less you break the ‘cake’ of solids during pressing, the lower the pH of the resulting must. This modification means Kelley can pick several weeks later than in previous years while achieving lower pHs—and thus greater freshness—in the finished wine. Expect a tension-filled and chalky white marrying the engaging texture of well-ripened Chenin Blanc with lovely clarity, fine-boned texture and impressive length. It doesn’t seem too early to call this out as a new Californian benchmark.

From 2020, longer élevage again and more precision at harvesting (based on the experience of the previous years) have come into play. This year the fruit was picked at about the same maturity as 2019, but the winemakers modified the way they press the grapes in order to capture brighter acidity. Simply put, the less you break the ‘cake’ of solids during pressing, the lower the pH of the resulting must. The result is that Kelley can pick several weeks later than previous years and achieve lower pHs, and therefore freshness, in the finished wine.

Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc 2020
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Pax Wines North Coast Syrah 2022
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Pax Wines North Coast Syrah 2022

The composition of this blend changes each year depending on the conditions, yet several key vineyards (that form the base of Pax’s top-tier Hillside Syrah) always appear. This year’s blend includes fruit from, among others, Castelli-Knight Ranch, Griffins Lair, Walker Vine Hill, Nellessen, Morris Ranch and Russell Ranch. The Castelli fruit brings high-tone spice and power; Nellessen provides nerve and acidity; the coastal Griffin’s Lair lends complexity and saline tang; Walker Vine Hill adds cool, slow-ripened detail; and the Morris Ranch and Russell Ranch sites round things out with deep fruit and vibrant acidity.

The key difference between this bottling and the Sonoma Coast wines is that the vineyard components may be sourced from anywhere within Sonoma up to the rolling hills of northern Mendocino County. So, it’s a true north-coast Californian expression of Syrah that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Fermented with 100% whole bunches, the wine ages for 10 months in neutral French oak puncheons and is bottled unfiltered. According to its maker, the 2022 is “just gorgeous, and probably the best North Coast we’ve made”. Like all of this producer’s Syrah, it is a compelling argument for how singular and delicious northern Californian Syrah can be.

“Damp earth, crushed cherries, white pepper, spice-laden black fruits with a taunt finish of black liquorice, tar and pomegranate liqueur. Medium-bodied and juicy, this one punches well above its weight class. Nothing less than a classic Syrah, this shows a lovely balance of fruit, spice and earth. Drink now and stash a couple away to be rewarded with more weight and texture.”
Pax Mahle, Winemaker
Pax Wines North Coast Syrah 2022
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