Oops. the note below was for the 2006, not the 2005. Now that I have completely recatalogued the exact location of everything in CT, I realize that I pulled 19-09-F instead of 19-11-F on Monday. Sorry about that. I still have a long position in '05 Walker, so I’ll have to drink one soon.
2006, not 2005, Pax Syrah Walker Vine Hill- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (8/20/2013)
Popped, decanted and poured, then followed for two hours. More tannic than in its youth? This has miles to go before it starts on the down slope. Barely developing tertiary flavors. Principally berries on the palate. Needs a decant of at least an hour, probably more. Very dark color. Long finish. Not at all flabby. There is acidity here. As the front forward fruit mellowed, the acidity became apparent. There is citrus on the nose and the palate. For those of you who predicted that the Pax wines would fall apart with age . . . Wrong. I have five more of these and I am very happy for it. (92 pts.)
Thanks for the TN. I just moved one of these home from the off-site so that I could check-in on it. Sounds like I have something good to look forward to.
Hey. If you want to get away from that mayor in rehab and come east, I’ll share a bottle with you. I started buying with the 2004 vintage and I was on very few lists when the 2005 came out, so I jumped in with both feet and still have plenty left.
I went deep on 05s too. I see I have 27 left across the line-up. Unfortunately, I bought pre fire sale. Still burns me to think of what I was told via the phone pitch (selling out fast, buy now, buy now etc.) versus the facts of the matter.
I just opened one of these about a week ago. I agree with Jay that the wine is still very young and has not really developed any secondary characteristics. However, as good as the wine is now, I am not sure it will ever be much better than it is today.
That, of course, is the $64,000 question. The problem is that if they are as good as a well-aged Hermitage when they get that old, it will be too late to stock up on the new vintages because waiting another 20-30 years will put me in my grave. However, in my experience, people who have been saying for decades that California wines won’t last as long as French wines have been wrong more often than not, so I will take my chances.
Jay - I completely agree. I think the wine will last a long time. The question is if it will get any better and I don’t have the answer to that!!! I am still sitting on 20 or so bottles from 2004/2005.
I have been re-sourcing the 2005s carefully over the last year. I found 3 more Castelli-Knights this year, and may open one this weekend. I had one about 3 months ago, it was drinking really well. The Walker, though, it’s been a while but given the vintage and my former love of that plot, it’s worth going for a few more of these. Pax seemed to really do it well in 2005, with the stems, fruit and acid, at least in the Castelli, coming together beautifully.
Bump. Oops. See note above. This was the 06 not the 05. With my new cellar and my new cataloging on CT, I noticed last night that the wrong slot was empty so I checked he empty bottle on the recycling bin. Definitely 06. The 05 should be even better.
![[oops.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/1/1f129ddad071ffe5db6c99817c3cab666035a70a.gif "oops"){kind=small}
the note below was for the 2006, not the 2005. Now that I have completely recatalogued the exact location of everything in CT, I realize that I pulled 19-09-F instead of 19-11-F on Monday. Sorry about that. I still have a long position in '05 Walker, so I’ll have to drink one soon.