Bright and glossy in color. Aromas of tilled soil, plum, cinnamon, and black raspberry. Rich fruitiness spreads on the palate, with delicate tannins and firm natural acidity leading to a long finish. Pax was the first winery to produce and release Gamay Noir in the Sonoma Coast AVA. The grapes come from BlackKnight, a vineyard that was originally only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but in 2014, an old Chardonnay parcel was grafted with Gamay Noir. 2015 was the first vintage, and 2016 was the first year that the winery began selling wholesale. This 2018 vintage shows the vivid fruit and energy that this vineyard is known for. Pax is a fresh family-run winery that started in 2000. The owners, Pax and Pam Marley, each dreamed of becoming a master sommelier. They studied hard every day, and at a study group with like-minded friends, they met and fell in love. Pax grew up in a family that had nothing to do with wine, and majored in art history at university. While working part-time at a restaurant and thinking about his future, he eventually became deeply interested in the history of the drink known as "wine". When the two of them traveled to France to study wine, they were completely fascinated by the relationship between grapes, people, and the soil, and the culture of "wine" that is deeply rooted in Europe. In 1997, the two decided to move to California and make a living in the wine industry. After that, Pax was selected as a wine buyer for Dean & DeLuca, and based on his knowledge of European wine, he was inspired by another genre of drink, California wine. Among them, the most shocking thing for Pax was "Syrah", and he began to realize that if California's Pauillac is Oakville and Pomerol is Carneros' Merlot, there is no California Syrah that can compare to Northern Rhone. In 2000, he started Pax Wine Cellars with the aim of making Syrah from a vineyard that he felt he had encountered by chance. What these vineyards have in common is that they are all in the cool environment of Sonoma County and Mendocino, which allows them to produce full-bodied, delicately expressive wines. The Pax brand, which has a niche angle, gained momentum, and Pax and Pam started the Wind Gap brand in 2006 with investors. If Pax is a brand that specializes in Syrah and Rhone varieties, Wind Gap was a hip brand full of playfulness, releasing unfamiliar grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as Trousseau Gris and Valdiguier. However, due to disagreements with investors, he decided to withdraw from the Wind Gap brand in 2018 and focus on his own Pax brand. Currently, Pax produces mainly Syrah, which has a texture and freshness reminiscent of Northern Rhone, as well as rare varieties such as Trousseau Gris and Valdiguier, which they handled during their time at Wind Gap. The style is unmistakably "New California", with no pesticides or substances that do not exist in nature being used in the fields, natural fermentation using indigenous yeasts, and minimal addition of sulfites.