Wind Gap Wine Dinner

Winemaker Dinner with Wind Gap's Pax Mahle

On Tuesday, June 9th Comal will welcome back Wind Gap’s owner and winemaker, Pax Mahle, for another special dinner showcasing a selection of Wind Gap wines paired with dishes by Comal's executive chef Matt Gandin. Dinner guests will have the opportunity to engage in conversation with Pax and learn firsthand about his winemaking approach.

Wine lovers know Pax Mahle from his first winery – PAX – which garnered high scores and much notoriety. Though he has always been influenced by French styles of winemaking, it was the bold, powerful Syrahs that first brought praise and attention to Pax in his new chapter as Sommelier-turned-Winemaker.

At PAX, fruit was sourced from a number of different vineyards within northern California. One year, a particular vineyard had an unusually cool growing season. Fermenting the fruit in single barrels, Pax found that the wines produced from this cooler site had the alluring freshness he had always loved in French wines. He believed they were the kind of wines one could drink every night with dinner, regardless of season. Pax continued experimenting with fruit from cooler growing regions and began harvesting at lower sugar levels, resulting in the creation of the Wind Gap label in the mid-2000’s as an outlet for his new direction. According to Pax, “Wind Gap is all about classically styled wines that represent the new California.”

This is the latest in an ongoing series of wine producer dinners (previous dinners have featured Bedrock, Arnot-Roberts, Unti, and Donkey & Goat) held in Comal’s private dining room, Abajo. All previous events have sold out in advance.

Dinner Menu

Cured local anchovies capers and chile arbol-oregano oil
Chenin Blanc, North Coast 2014

Peruano bean-quelite soup
Soif Red Blend, North Coast 2014

Hoja santa wrapped grilled wild king salmon corn, black olive, and cherry tomato salsa
Skinny Jeans, Sonoma Coast 2013

Ribeye steak asada grilled summer squash and green rice
Syrah, Sonoma Coast, “Nellessen Vineyard” 2013

Oaxacan chocolate budin whipped crema