When it comes to the wine industry, we at Ricci Vineyards like to boast that we hang with some pretty heavy hitters. There are a lot of amateurish wines, and wine brands, out in the world that believe just because they can punch, it means they can step into the ring and go toe-to-toe with wines that fight. On the contrary, they usually can’t. Also, before we go deeper into this post, we want to make it apparent there will be a lot of borrowing of boxing parlance to make comparisons as it relates to wine — so settle in and lace-up your gloves. You, see? It’s already started.

To frame the difference between wines that are fighters and wines that can merely punch is pretty straightforward. Traditionally in the realm of boxing, a fighter is someone in the ring that is well-rounded and can display multiple disciplines at once. Poise, finesse, perseverance, power, longevity and so on. A punchy wine can surprise you from time to time — an uppercut to the palette that was seemingly unexpected for instance. However, what is there beyond that? True wine brands that shape themselves as fighters show dexterity and craftiness; cutting through the noise of what separates the amateur wine producers from those that truly become champions.

Recently, we at Ricci Vineyards had the opportunity to experience a wine producer who has molded itself into a bona fide heavyweight, bone-bruising legend of the west Sonoma County wine scene. Pax Wines is a name probably familiar to some reading this. In a landscape that can sometimes feel too overwhelmingly burdened by the monotony of Cabernet Sauvignon, and other like-minded grapes, in 2000 Pax and Pam Mahle sought to do something different. Like a scrappy contender looking for a title shot, they set their sights on Syrah.

Fast forward a few decades and the folks at Pax are not merely existing or struggling to hang on to former glory. If anything they are fighting and thriving — producing wines that are a combination of precise jabs and head-snapping haymakers that both grab your attention and rock your world. And at this current juncture, the wine world needs this. It wasn’t so long ago that Syrah was seen by more than a few in the industry as a less-than grape. Maybe it was something that added a little thump to your red blend, but usually nothing more. Now, after years of wineries doubling-down on the same old stories and trying to position themselves as the ultimate drivers of luxury, opulence and elitism, the whole act has gotten pretty stale. What happened to making wine fun? What happened to people fighting to be different? Well, it turns out the answer to both those questions is in Sebastopol — and it has been here for quite some time.

To be a good boxer (we warned you the references would be rampant) you have to be able to take a solid blow and remain standing. Or, if you do get knocked down, you need to get up off the canvas and shake the bleariness from your eyes. It’s the same with any wine brand that dares to stray from what seems, or at least used to be, considered safe. For way too long the formula for success in the wine business was this: Grow Cab, print money. Along the way people got greedy, or lazy, or maybe a bit of both. Now those days are dying and a resurgence for what once made wine cool can be touched, and tasted, and worn like a comfy cardigan all over again. Before if you were a winemaker getting battered repeatedly for making something different, you’re suddenly a contender and a force to be reckoned with. That endurance and fortitude in the ring have made them more resilient and better apt for dealing with downturns in the industry.  

When we, the team at Ricci Vineyards, stepped into the wine-slinging den of Pax Wines in Sebastopol, it resonated with us immediately. Walls adorned with reclaimed, warped barnwood, vintage vinyl sitting on a shelf with a record player at the ready, and Wisteria vines literally infiltrating the interior of the tasting space through a seemingly weak point in the armor of the rollup garage door. Honestly, it felt like if left to their lonesome for long enough, the tropical foliage would slowly besiege the space and reclaim it Jumanji-style. This was our vibe.

Then came the wine. Holy s&*t. The tasting started off with some beautifully refreshing, bright, interesting whites like Vermentino and Chenin Blanc. These are the style of wines that are currently doing the heavy lifting when it comes to propping up the wine industry. However, the real meat and potatoes at Pax is served by way of their Rhône reds, and boy, there were some bellringers. As we were steered through southeastern France by way of western Sonoma County, we tasted through Grenache, Mourvèdre, GSMs and the aforementioned Syrah. If the walls of the wine glass could speak, each one would tell a compelling story. There were notes of earthiness, red meat, pork belly, olive tapenade, hints of smoke, gaminess coming out of the woodwork and savory elements that went on for ages. It would be a falsehood to think that these wines appeal to everyone, but if the pursuit of bringing glory back to the wine industry can be achieved through making wine fun again — well, Pax understands the assignment.

The world of California wine was initially formed by fighters — producers willing to punch, duck and weave their way to a place of respectability and reverence. As time as gone on, well-roundedness took a backseat to flashy wines with big right hands hunting for the knockout blow. But if you look at things now from 10,000 feet, what has more staying power? Yes, California Cab was required viewing for a long time, but the audience is waning and the bouts have become boring. It isn’t our place at Ricci Vineyards to tell somebody what wines they should drink, or what wines they should like, but for us we try to approach winemaking with diversification and avoidance on being one-dimensional. We think the same thing can be said for the folks over at Pax. Overall, we think it makes wine much more entertaining, interesting and enjoyable as a whole. Pound-for-pound, the little producers fighting to bring the industry back from the brink are the best wine champions of the world.