It’s hard to think of a producer who’s had more impact on Californian Syrah than Pax Mahle. After years as a sommelier and wine buyer on the US east coast, Pax and his wife Pam moved to California in 1997, where he would take the coveted role as corporate wine buyer with prestigious epicurean purveyor Dean & DeLuca. He needed a deep understanding of Californian wine, a topic Pax freely admits to knowing close to nothing about at the time—his expertise and personal drinking preferences were decidedly Eurocentric. Long story short, his prospecting led him to the north coast of California, where he fell hard for the cool freshness of Syrah. These were wines that resembled his favourite wines from the northern Rhône.

Stunned by the region’s untapped potential, in 2000, Mahle realised he needed to be on the frontlines of winemaking rather than behind the scenes. Drawing on his many visits to the northern Rhône, he wanted to make wines his heroes would be proud of. To this end, Sonoma Coast's cool, foggy AVAs provided the perfect combination of terroir and grape. The soulful wines of Raymond Trollat and Pierre Gonon served as significant influences, and the experience of tasting in the cellars of these great producers stands as some of Pax’s most cherished. As an ex-Master Sommelier student, he delightfully quips that he tries to return to the Rhône Valley each year to “relearn the things that are correct and unlearn the things I’ve always been told”.

The Sonoma Hillsides Syrah is the estate's flagship wine. Described by Antonio Galloni as “one of the very finest wines in Northern California for a number of years now”, it also has the distinction of having once been awarded a rare 100-point score from the same reviewer.

Initially, Pax leased nearly all his vineyards to ensure they were farmed to his high standards. Roll on 20 years, and the vineyards Pax sources from are independently owned by small, like-minded growers and are farmed organically, although certification is not deemed necessary. Pax spends a lot of time in these vineyards and is involved in every aspect of decision-making regarding his fruit. “It’s a partnership, a relationship of trust,” he says. “When things get tough, you need to be able to trust that they will do the right thing.” Although his rich, powerful expressions of Syrah put him on the map, by 2006, Pax had recalibrated his style towards fresher, lower-alcohol profiles and began working with new vineyard sources in cooler, coastal areas of Sonoma. Pax’s all-star line-up now includes vineyards such as Alder Springs, Castelli-Knight Ranch, Walker Vine Hill and Griffin’s Lair.

Within a tiered classification approach, the cream of the crop is designated Hillsides. The single-vineyard wines follow, then the North Coast and Sonoma Coast blends. In the cellar, Pax plays Syrah with a straight bat: 100% whole clusters crushed by foot. Nothing that could change the natural environment of the winery is permitted, so no commercial yeasts are used. He adds more stems in cooler vintages to buttress the Syrah and provide textural richness. He never destems unless necessary (he has a very expensive destemmer in his winery that’s been used twice in 10 years!).

As one of our Californian friends put it, if there’s something Pax doesn’t know on the topic, it’s not worth knowing—25 years of honing his craft, spanning the length and breadth of Sonoma County, have served him well. Although he exudes confidence derived from expertise, he remains a portrait of self-effacement, attributing his success and the universal acclaim for his wines to his sites rather than himself. Full of tone and sinew, these wines not only express a purity of fruit and expression of place you seldom encounter, but they are also impressively structured and balanced.