Pax Mahle, winemaker and owner of Pax Wines, and Baron Ziegler, owner of Marine Layer Wines, have purchased 162 acres of prized Syrah vines in California. Known as Halcón Vineyard, many consider it to be the foremost Syrah vineyard in California. Ziegler and Mahle will keep the name, both for the vineyard and the resulting wine label, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Located in Californai’s Mendocino County, the duo have big plans for Halcón (which translates as ‘Hawk’ in English). “The idea is to make the Pierre Gonon of Northern California,” said Ziegler. “One epic wine. Boom. All Syrah.”
Mahle has a reputation as a fine maker of Syrah and Halcón represents the first vineyard he has owned. He intends to stay true to the vineyard’s critically-acclaimed style, which he describes as “savory, mineral and muscular.”
“Sitting at an altitude of 2,500ft, this is one of the highest vineyards in California and features an incredibly cool, windy terroir that produces a concentrated, mineral, and blue fruit driven Syrah,” explains Jeb Dunnuck of The Rhone Report.
Under its previous owners, Paul and Jackie Gordon, Halcón sold fruit to other winemakers as well as making its own wines, but Mahle and Ziegler will be keeping all the vineyard’s grapes for the production of their own wine.
While the terms of the deal have not been made public, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Mahle and Ziegler are 50/50 partners in the venture.
For more information, head over to Halcón Vineyard’s official website.