Pax Mahle Wines, Mission 2021, Somers Vineyard, Lodi, Central Valley, CA

Feeling groovy? Don’t let the fruit punch color fool you: this dry and wild wine has umami, mushroom flavors. With a light body and a tannic finish, this wine will perk you up and make you wanna get down. Serve with a chill and enjoy with tacos.

COUNTRY: USA

STATE: California

APPELLATION (AVA): Lodi

REGION: Central Valley

SUBREGION: Sacramento County

VINEYARD: Somers Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2021

GRAPES: 100% Mission

SOIL: Deep sandy loam 

PRACTICE: Organic, dry-farmed

VINIFICATION: Native yeasts, whole-cluster and foot-trodden. 

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Light garnet-ruby

BODY: Light bodied

TASTE: Dry

TANNINS: Light

PRIMARY AROMAS: Dark dry caramel, floral, tarragon, salted black olives

FLAVOR:  Floral, pepper, umami, strawberry

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 12.5%

SERVICE AND FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTION: Serve with a slight chill. Pair with tacos eaten with good friends.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Pax and Pam Mahle

“Pax and Pam moved to wine country in 1997 to create a lifestyle that involved working with wine. After a few years of tasting and sourcing wine from all over California, Pax finally found a vineyard in which he felt a kismet connection. Alder Springs Vineyard was the site and subsequently led to the launch of the PAX brand in 2000.

“Their entire lineup of wines came from cool climate vineyards in Sonoma County and Mendocino.

“At Pax Wines winemaking is approached holistically. This is done by taking care to use only grapes that are grown without the use of chemicals and by hand making their wines with as little intervention as possible. As a result, all of their wines are crushed by foot and hand, and fermented using only natural yeasts.” (paxwine.com)

ABOUT MISSION: These grapes were among the first grapes brought to California in the late 18th century by Franciscan missionaries, thus the name “Mission.” With modern DNA tasting, in 2006 scientists were able to trace its European roots back to a little-known Spanish variety named Listan Prieto, which is also known as Palomino. However, this is not the same Palomino Fino that is used in Sherry production.