Pax, Syrah Walker Vine Hill, Russian River Valley

very fragrant nose of dried herbs, really sweet on the nose, almost like blueberry jam. Good acidity mid-palate and on the finish. After half an hour this was showing nice woodsy notes, and was really sweet on the palate.

2003 vintage

Broken cork with some small pieces and sediment certainly impacting the wine...that said, still dark ruby in color after 20+ years with good fruit and a medium finish...paired with grilled burgers...definitely time to drink up, but you might be surprised that still very much enjoyable.

2003 vintage

Love this stuff; nose is dark and exploding out of the glass with dark chocolate, blueberry, blackberry, black licorice, leather, cinnamon, white pepper. Very complex and compelling. Palate is juicy with black cherries, crushed rock, tannins are smooth but still really present. In a great spot, clearly has plenty of time left.

2003 vintage

I really question the professional reviews sometimes. WS says drink by 2012! Really? This wine is still drinking well in 2021. Fleshy and fruity with supple well integrated tannins but still some zing on the finish. Some small grain residual sediment in the glass but not fetched taste. Drinking pretty strong at 18 years old. I would say this is a wine to PnP with brief aeration. It will break down somewhat after a couple hours open.

2003 vintage

Not quite as rich and complex as the 1/21/17 butstill a very delicious wine. Impressive at 118 years of age!

2003 vintage

Full bodied. Boysenberry, white pepper

2003 vintage

If blinded, I would have said Hermitage from the 90's. Surprisingly old-world.

2003 vintage

one of the better ones of a case of old pax i bought. gives that mendocino cool climate electricity with some well balanced fruit in the mix. really in a good spot rn. drink up.

2003 vintage

At 15.4% ABV. this is big, bold, dense and extracted but in much more balance than the '02 Castelli-Knight Ranch we had yesterday. Zero prunes, zero raisins. All fresh dark fruit and a nice note of black pepper. Not as funky/gamy as I would have expected it at this age. Tannins are silky smooth, acid is medium. Reminded me of premium Australian shiraz. Quite enjoyable. PAIRING: Seco de Carne Peruano [A+]

2003 vintage

Rich and smooth with dark blueberry and some tar

2003 vintage

The nose is beautiful, but fairly quiet. The palate is smooth and resolved, but I miss the liveness that I remember from my previous taste three years ago. I suspect this wine peaked between 2010 and 2012; it is very pleasant now, but one suspects that this taste is just a memory of what it used to be. If you're holding, drink.

2003 vintage

Deep purple/red color. Happily, this bottle was riper, deeper, longer and fresher than the 1/15/13 bottle. Thick, boysenberry fruit in the mouth with a touch of licorice in the long, sweet finish. "Lightening in a bottle" perhaps, but one of the best California Syrahs I have ever had.

2003 vintage

Not that fruity - a tad disappointing. Expected more.

2003 vintage

Beautiful silky texture with all elements fully integrated. Still some soft tannins but probably on the decline the last year or so. ultra concentrated with tons of Welch's blueberry/grape jam, smokey blackberry, cassis, and peppered beef jerky. Best after 2 hours open. Drink now.

2003 vintage

Last of a case I bought. Lovely wine but needed until now to show. Clearly heavily extracted and somewhat manipulated but a fine Bacchanalian treat

2003 vintage

Full bodied. Blackberry, creosote, white pepper. Out of magnum. Similar taste to 2006 out of 750.

2003 vintage

Big ripe fruit with blackberry, spice and pepper on the finish. Still plenty of life

2003 vintage

funky, chemical earth flavors. bought on gray market

2003 vintage

Good wine. After being inaccesible for such a long period of backward profile, not the wine seems to be fading. Could these actually have such a short prime window?

2003 vintage

This is why I drink Pax! Fruit and more fruit followed by more fruit. Nose of pungent ripe plums and wood smoke. In the mouth it's loaded with blackberry jam. Finishes a bit hot more my liking but this is typical of Pax so it's forgivable for those who can tolerate it.

2003 vintage

aroma de azeitonas negras, muito agradável, porém pouco intenso.Na boca apresentou muito boa acidez, refrescante, marcante, leve amargor. Agradou muito no sabor.

2003 vintage

Expressive nose of chocolate covered dark red berries. Medium plus in weight, with good restrained power on the palate. This bottle shows plenty of sediment, but does not detract as it has very good freshness for a new world Syrah and the tannins are both energetic and round. Excellent Syrah, among the best I've had from CA.

2003 vintage

From a case to my last two, oh the horror! This wine is drinking beautifully now and will develop further. I want to see how the fruit drops out with maturity. Note to self: wait two years to open the last one!!

2003 vintage

Give 30 min to open. Even now.

2003 vintage

Drinking well but still tight after all these years!

2003 vintage

Interesting wine at this stage. Has dropped a lot of its fruit, but hasn't quite developed much secondary flavors. Not sure I like this as much as I did when young and powerful.

2003 vintage

Drinking beautifully now, great depth and mature purple and black fruit amid tar and stone. Not quite a pop and pour but a pop, decant and pour.

2003 vintage

Largely consistent with my previous tasting note; wasn't sure initially how this was going to be, had the cork completely crumble, and had to double decant through coffee filters to save this bottle. But no harm. Hasn't budged much since the last bottle, tannins are still firm.

2003 vintage

Near peak drinking. A nice effort!

2003 vintage

Seems to be at an odd stage, a bit disjointed on the end.

2003 vintage

PNP with many friends, big dark fruit and strong tastes of olive and classic syrah...really very pretty...people fought over this following an insipid chianti

2003 vintage

I'm with Grant Geyer on this one. Really has aged well and is well balanced but certainly no lack of rich delightful blackberry fruit

2003 vintage

Wow. Not ready yet. Dank dark fruit, raspberry cream motor oil with aromatic power on day 2. Huge impact but not gloopy 90+.

2003 vintage

Many different wines over three days.AT its best it was a lush, fruit driven dark fruited wine. The alcohol makes it plush but not hot.Tight nose giving some plum and celery. Enough acid to keep fresh.

2003 vintage

Nice dark fruit with licorice and menthol on the finish

2003 vintage

This vineyard has been unfairly maligned by many! These bottles are quite rewarding if you give them a proper time within which to evolve. I think that syrah simply demands proper storage. They drink very differently if you give them sufficient time within which to evolve. THis bottle was decanted for about 4-5 hours. I would say hold onto it a couple more years before cracking it open. Everyone loved it... WOTN

2003 vintage

opened the wine and auzouzed for an hour or two before dinner..initially pour off to breath was sweet and round and fun to drink...when poured at dinner initally giving little and tasted of leather and tannin...with time started to open and really got quite a bit more fun and pleasant....I guess argues for decant or just much longer Audouze....I did not find it that overwhelming or hot/fruity.....that said, not sure how much it has evolved or will....not over the hill …

2003 vintage

WCC Blind Rhone Varietals from Around the World (Salty's Pub, Clifton Park, NY) : Delicious but bitter on the finish. May be hurt by following the 2 above. 1 vote for WOTF.

2003 vintage

What to say ... Well-made wine, but still primary and fruit-focused. Good, but never got interesting.

2003 vintage

A huge wine with a ton of fruit and chocolate with a bit of earthiness. Would recommend decanting for a few hours. Not my favorite style in Syrah, but if you like big wines this will be a winner. Enjoy!!!

2003 vintage

Well made wine. Not as Rhonish as I like, but I would definitely purchase at a reasonable price again. Decanted for about 45 minutes. Dark chocolate with the syrah white pepper on back (although it was a bit more like black). Good fruit with stewed plum and berry.

2003 vintage

This bottle even with 7 years of ageing still needed a lot more than the 1/2 hour decant I gave it. After drinking about 1/2 the bottle it started to open up but was still tight. Joan liked it more than I did but I found it quite enjoyable as well. No rush to drink the last bottle. Should drink well for at least another five years.

2003 vintage

Drank from a magnum on NYE with some good friends. Superb bottle of wine. Decanted for an hour. Wonderful nose filled with dark fruits and a hint of pepper and leather. Complex and well balanced full bodied wine....mellowed a bit after a number of hours in the decanter but was a joy to drink. Paired well with a pepper crusted beef tenderloin. Yum. ( didn't get the kalamata olive notes mentioned in other tasting notes)

2003 vintage

Much better than the 'Terraces' bottle that I had. This just had a gorgeous nose of game, dark fruits and an underlying bit of oak. (Shilo also got a strong scent of green olives, but I did not get that.) Full bodied, but not overdone, this was really a pleasure to drink. The palate leads to a finish full of dark chocolate and goes on forever. They really built this well and also built it to last. This showed absolutely …

2003 vintage

Superb wine. Agree with prior tasting notes regarding the kalamata olive note, which runs right through the center of this wine, accompanied by notes of sage and bacon fat. The bouquet displays these notes immediately upon opening, and lingered on into the second day. This wine was not decanted, but popped and poured. Superb!

2003 vintage

Dark, meaty, and complex -- somewhat reminiscent of a cote rotie. Kalamata olives, bacon fat, and dark ripe berries on the nose. Multilayered on the palate with dark fruit, graphite, bacon, campfire smoke, and a trace of kalamata, with a nice streak of oregano on the finish. Interesting and enjoyable.

2003 vintage

A syrah in a very powerful, somewhat creamy style. Black with a deep purple rim. Nose assaults you with aromas of mint, very dense cassis, bacon fat, plum torte. Equally powerful and almost syrupy in the mouth. But this wine is too much in every dimension and seems unbalanced. Has a slightly harsh, disjointed finish. I would hold it longer; probably best around 2011. But at its best it will never equal the best northern rhone Hermitage bottles, like Chave. …

2003 vintage

Double-decanted. One of my favorite vineyards and favorite wines. Massive with black/blue fruit. Should last 8-10 years easily.

2003 vintage

wonderful nose, I could smell this for days. opened up with several hours in the decanter and stayed well tight for a day or two. would definitely benefit from cellaring, although very enjoyable now as well.

2003 vintage

Wow, blind I might have picked the as French. Decanted for 8 hours it is still drinking very young. This wine although great now probably needs at least another 3 years before it is in it's prime. It's going to be hard for me to wait that long to consume another bottle.

2003 vintage

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Pax, Syrah Walker Vine Hill, Russian River Valley

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