Wind Gap Wines — Sonoma Coast Winery & Tasting Room

Wind Gap Wines is named for the wind gap — the topographic feature created when a stream-eroded canyon is captured by another drainage, leaving the original valley abandoned and elevated, through which wind now flows freely. Wind gaps in the coastal ranges allow the Pacific Ocean's marine influence to penetrate inland, the abandoned canyon serving as a natural conduit for fog and cool air. Pax Mahle's second label (alongside his Pax Wine Cellars Syrah program) focuses on the specific sites where wind gap influence creates unusual growing conditions for Syrah, Chardonnay, and Grenache on the extreme Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley. Wine Advocate has scored Wind Gap's Syrah at 91–94 points.