2005 Pax Horizontal - Decant Time?

WINE TALK
1

I am doing a mini horizontal with my wine group tomorrow and was wondering for those that have had any of these recently, what is your decanting recommendation (if any).

2005 Pax Syrah Obsidian Vineyard
2005 Pax Syrah Alder Springs Vineyard
2005 Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill
2005 Pax Syrah Kobler Family Vineyard

2

Had the 05 Obsidian last month. Pop & pour.
It was awesome.
Sounds like a fun night.

3

I had an '05 Alder Springs “The Knob” within the past couple months, decanted just before drinking, and it was showing really well. Didn’t change much with an hour or so of air.

Sounds like an fun tasting. It would be interesting to throw in an '05 Agharta if possible, which IIRC is mostly Alder Springs fruit.

I had the pleasure of tasting '09 Donelan Obsidian, WVH, & Kobler with Tyler Thomas, and it was stunning how different these 3 wines were, each site clearly showing through the wine. I look forward to hearing your takes on the '05s.

4

Had the 05 Griffin’s Lair in the past 2 weeks. Very salty but fun. Had it decanted 3-4H and it didn’t really budge.

5

I would give the Alder Springs and Kobler a brief decant. They drink really well right out of the chute.
The Walker Hill is extremely tight. Its a real acid monster. Last bottle I drank barely loosened up after two days.

6

Have had the 05 Obsidian and Kobler in the past month and both were pop and pour. I have been drinking through my 05 Pax lately and have yet to be disappointed with a bottle. Then again, I was always a big Pax fan.

7

i don’t think they necessarily need a decant. 05 Pax is showing really well right now, with not much change, in my opinion.

8

I would probably decant the Obsidian, or at pop it and test it a few hours ahead of showtime. I haven’t had a WVH in a while, but the other two wines should show well no matter what. I’d splash decant them all for sediment if nothing else.

I had a 05 Keltie last weekend and I was surprised how open it was. Delicious, complex, powerful wine.

The 2005 Pax Syrahs are magnificent. I marginally preferred the Alder Springs, but they are all good.

9

Todd,

Sounds like great fun…If I were going to serve these wines as a horizontal tasting, I would double-decant them (open and decant each of the wines then immediately put them back to bottle) one hour before the tasting…it doesn’t make allot of sense to me to open one before the others…they should all get the same treatment to allow the wines to stand up and be compared on equal ground. The bio-dynamic calendar says today is a flower day…the wines should be open delicious and aromatic…the vineyard characteristics should shine through…I would also arrange the flight in the following order:

2005 Pax Syrah Alder Springs Vineyard
2005 Pax Syrah Kobler Family Vineyard
2005 Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill
2005 Pax Syrah Obsidian Vineyard

I hope the wines bring you and your group allot of pleasure and fun…Have a great time and please post notes, I’d love to hear how it goes…

~Pax

10

Had the alder springs about 2 weeks ago and it was reeeeaaally tight. I would go no less than 2 hours.