Wind Gap, Sun Chase Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Near perfect cork, easily removed. Consumed over two days. color was somewhat oxidized, clarity medium. Balanced on the acidic side. One bottle of this vintage remaining in my cellar.

2012 vintage

Best bottle and last bottle of 12. Was it bottle variation? Others consumed too soon? anyway, delicious.

2012 vintage

Nice stuff. Wish he was still making Wind Gap.

2012 vintage

One of the best and most interesting domestic Grenache I have had. So bummed I have only one bottle left.

2012 vintage

I don’t think Grenache gets much better. Light bodied, savory with lightly ripe fresh fruit and refreshing acidity. Very good food wine. 13% abv. Wind Gap is no more. I don’t think Pax is making this wine. Too bad.

2012 vintage

uniquely great. CDP was the jumping off point for this satisfying wine. Our last bottle had depth, some grenache fruit flavor and profoundness that this overachiever shouldn't have had.

2012 vintage

Pax Mahle seems to march to a different drummer. This is a light take on Grenache, light bodied, and bright and fresh flavors even after 8+ years. Raised in concrete eggs, this wine still has lots of bright red fruit (did not expect strawberry from a Grenache) accompanied by lovely floral aromatics like violet and and maybe a bit of lavender. Not what I expected when I bought for a steal, but so enjoyable.

2012 vintage

There may be some bottle variation, or maybe drinker variation. I enjoyed this bottle much more than the first.

2012 vintage

Completely closed. No nose at all, and almost no taste for the first hour. At 90 minutes after opening there was a bit of spice and a strong bite of alcohol (I know it’s only 13.5%), but that’s about it. If I tasted this blind I couldn’t even tell what varietal it was. I’m disappointed, and hoping maybe this is an off bottle, as I’ve got 2 more.

2012 vintage

Good showing... fruit has started to integrate, raspberry jam, loam. Fine acids, soft tannin. Yet, no real pop. Opened up over a couple of hours but could use more air.

2012 vintage

Drank over two nights and enjoyed this more than a bottle six months ago. Pure red fruit throughout with modest herb and spice notes. Well balanced and easy to enjoy.

2012 vintage

Medium garnet color, pop-n-pour nose shows mostly floral notes with some strawberries. Palate is tight, acidity with some spice, very tannic. Some air starts to loosen it up, sour cherries and pepper. Probably an in-between hop on this, losing its youthful fruit but not any tertiary development yet.

2012 vintage

Nose is reticent with some cherry fruit and a little dry eraser marker note (the latter of which is off putting). The palate is pretty simple and straightforward ... cherry fruit. Pretty un-interesting and probably my least favorite effort from Pax, who's wines I usually like quit a bit.

2012 vintage

Final bottle of a trifecta that has been decidedly subpar. Perhaps the group I got was damaged (see previous tasting notes), so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Certainly the best showing of the bunch, but still nothing I have any interest in revisiting. Double decanted. On the nose: tart red fruit and a hint of va and stems. On the palate, a bit thin; more tart acidity and extremely drying and coarse tannins. Dump the rest.

2012 vintage

Transitional. This has always been acid-driven, and remains so; right now the fruit is starting to pull back a bit, and the savory, minerally, earthy side is showing more. Intellectually very satisfying, but I think there will be more pure enjoyment down the road with some additional cellar time. The parts sure are nice right now, and it's tasty after a bit in the decanter, but it needs a bit of time to come back together and be all of …

2012 vintage

Decanted for 3 hours. Tasty red raspberry on the nose and palate with pepper notes on the finish with refreshing tannins.

2012 vintage

Does elegance belong in Grenache? Every time I open a bottle of this wine I am surprised at how Pax has taken a grape that is usually in your face and exuberant, and created a wine of purity, grace and fine definition. The red fruit is there, with herbal overtones, but it never gets candied, never hot or overdone as can often happen with Grenache. Very satisfying as an aperitif and with dinner.

2012 vintage

Ruby/violet. Very nice nose, red fruits, flowers, cinnamon and bubble gum. Good acidity, bright and focused on the palate. A bit simple, but elegant. Agree with AG in this likely will not age very long.

2012 vintage

Medium bodied. Nice, somewhat candied, red fruit, with some floral notes. Almost pinot-like. Good acidity.

2012 vintage

Medium red or even dark berries. Strawberry . cherry. Cola. A small sense of candied sweetness. A little tannin and a little heat which surprised me a little considering the wine maker and style. 13.75% which is hi for wind gap. I don't really think many new world grenache are made in this fashion. No barrel, old skool style. Good wine but probly my least favorite wind gap.

2012 vintage

Ripe red fruits, with some blue hints. Nice acidity.

2012 vintage

smells of cola bottles lots of tannin though light body fruity, elegant and perfumed I love how some Cal grenaches have a Pinot quality to them £33.95

2012 vintage

A little muted and not very expressive on the nose. On the palate a bit drying, and tight. Well balanced, good fruit and slightly spicy. Fine length. This should be given more time. 89-91

2012 vintage

Remarkable intensity given the relative lack of density and alcohol. Really mineral driven, with the pretty side of Grenache fruit showing, rather than the blowsy, cloying aspect. I would drink a ton more Grenache if there were more Grenache like this. Seems like this could continue to develop, but it's delicious now.

2012 vintage

My last bottle seemed off and I finally got around to opening another. Decanted and drank over about 5 hours. This took about 4 hours to really open up. At first there was essentially no nose (similar to the previous bottle), but after a while, there was muted red fruit and some earthy notes (I could agree with licorice). This is pretty acidic on the attack and there a lot of chalky tannin on the finish. It was fine with …

2012 vintage

Received this today...it was cooked.

2012 vintage

Really bright up front, with an odd but tasty basil note in the middle, and a slightly hot finish.

2012 vintage

A light and graceful style with dark yet airy fruit and wonderful cracked black pepper notes. Elegant. I like it, but I'd have a hard time paying almost $40 for this when I could have much the same thing from Eric Texier for $18.

2012 vintage

Bright cherry vibrant spicy. Paired with Claire's meatloaf

2012 vintage

Smells like Rosé wine. More like cherry candy. Doesn't have much connection with southern Rhone Grenache..

2012 vintage

wind gap (the barlow) : Raspberry-licorice on the nose, both red and dark berries, no oak, some sweetness from the fruit. a rather big wine (I suspect contrary to the intentions of the winemaker) in spite of the 0 % oak regime.

2012 vintage

Just a couple of weeks after this landed on my doorstep, I had to give one a try. On first opening it was all ripe strawberry and spice. I poured a glass, and let it sit for an hour while I made dinner. On retasting the spice character was accentuated, and some warm herbs were added to the mix. The tannic structure popped up with time, as a bit of a dry finish. There was no shortage of finishing flavor …

2012 vintage

This may be as close as I get to a Pobega, as this arrived on 4/10. I finished the Wind Gap Nellesen syrah last night, so decided to find another glass of wine and settled on staying with the Wind Gap new release theme. Open about an hour, a spicy aromatic, something that feels akin to an alcohol marker, although listed at 13.75% on the bottle, I'm having a challenge thinking this is what I am sensing. I enjoy the …

2012 vintage

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Wind Gap, Sun Chase Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

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