These Mission grapes (the variety is also called Paíz) were planted in the early 1900s. According to Pax, many of the vine trunks are over six feet tall. The site is dry-farmed, and organically.
The crazy old vines makes a limpid wine, so is light it reads almost like a Tavel. Its aromas are piquant, lean, like rhubarb and spring strawberry steeped in spearmint and wintergreen. There’s a woodsy note, too, something darker and more complex, more like earth than sunlight.
With more air, the wine suggests birch bark, dried strawberries, and forest honey. It has a back-palate bite of astringency and a finishing sense of red peppercorn.
Such an interesting wine!
2019 Pax Mahle Wines Mission Somer’s Vineyard Lodi
12.5% ABV | $24
