Oh you may be cool, but are you 10 year old Pax Mahle, Wind Gap, Paso Robles, Glenn Rose, Nebbiolo, cool? Yeeeeeah… That’s what I thought.

Heavy brick around a core of deep garnet, nose all maraschino and funky ripe plum, heavy toasted leather and squished suger-ant. A fresh swirl pops the rainbow of a jalapeno slick on muddy water and toffee with a thick nut crust.

I never knew this producer sourced any fruit from Paso, and boy did he get the good stuff from these 2 vineyards. Warm and ripe–ALL PASO–plenty of that toasty Italian expression of this classic grape. A grape I’ve tasted several quite *awkward* California versions of recently. This falls far more into the classis expectations.

In the mouth, the tannins practically lead. And not in the way a wine past its prime will be all abrasive, one-dimensional tannins outshining the wasted fruit. Oh no. These are complex, multi-faceted chunks of structure, writhing in acid but most importantly: gobs and gobs of bigly dark cherry, Almond Joy, buttered popcorn and Dr. Pepper coat all surfaces, priming them for the tannin-injection you’ve already braced yourself for. It finishes sharp and bright and youthful, with fresh raspberry and hardwood sawdust tingling.

It really is a backwards wine to taste! The presentation on the palate is perfectly reversed. Read that paragraph upside-down and there is your classic tasting order, and this thing does in all in opposite order. An unusual wine for sure, all the way from reading the label to smearing it all over your body. Wait, did I say that out loud? It’s ripe though. I’m guessing 14-7, but it is a dark nutty chunk of absolute lip-smacking goodness. Compliments of my good friend Blake Brown from his last jaunt up to those parts.

2008 WINDGAP WINES Nebbiolo Luna Matta/Glenn Rose Vyd Paso Robles 14.75

paxwine.com