Founder of Boutique Pax Wine Cellars Launches 'Donelan Family Wines'

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Joe Donelan, one of Northern California's premier wine producers, today announced the official launch of their new winery, Donelan Family Wines (http://www.donelanwines.com).

The small boutique winery will continue to focus on Syrah and other Rh�ne varietals harvested from unique vineyards within Sonoma County, California. A natural outgrowth from the successful Pax Wine Cellars, Donelan Wines will take the same discipline, patience and understanding of the microclimates and "terroir" of northern California vineyards and produce a more select set of Syrah and other Rh�ne varietals under the Donelan brand.

"The focus to produce the best vineyard-designated Syrah and other Rh�ne style varietals from the North Coast of California will remain unchanged," said Tyler Thomas, Donelan Family Wines winemaker. "There is a mandate to elevate the quality of what was Pax Wines to an even higher standard under the Donelan label. This can only be accomplished by continuing to source unique, spectacular vineyards that produce inimitable wines,�and by bringing a deeper understanding of vine physiology, soils, and how vines are responding to any changes in micro-environment and climate."

Micromanaging Lives on the Vine

Donelan Wines plans to capture the natural variance in their respective vineyards in order to isolate only the absolutely best wine grapes. This takes patience and detail oriented farming,�defining the vineyard not only by row number, years planted, clone, or rootstock, but also from integrating how Mother Nature is generating differences each year across man-designated blocks. All Donelan Wines require stringent blending even of single vineyard wines and making difficult choices of what to leave out to keep quality high.

"Production of Donelan wine will be based on quality alone, not volume requirements," said Donelan Wine owner, Joe Donelan. "We are not interested in making the average of any single vineyard (even if that is very good), but we want to parse out and discover only the best of every place and only produce that. We made difficult choices over the last year but we feel that we have seen the results of these decisions already exhibited in the 2008 wines where production of many of the wines has been reduced, but a greater purity and superior quality has emerged."

As Donelan Family Wines move forward to gain a better understanding of their vineyards and of the wines they produce, the company's commitment to their customers will remained unchanged. "We want people to join us in our journey of discovering the best of the best,�while providing the utmost quality service in the wine industry," said Donelan of his new business. "This was a trademark of Joe Donelan under the Pax brand, and will continue under the Donelan label." Joe Donelan, well known for sending a personal written note to every customer, plans to continue this tradition under the Donelan brand.

Unique Ingredients of Donelan Wines

Cool climates, free draining soils and windy conditions, iconoclastic sites, committed and quality oriented growers, and sustainable farming we understand to be critical components to producing wine of great complexity, depth, and character.

About Donelan Family Wines

Emerging from Pax Wine Cellars, Joe Donelan's first foray into the winemaking business, Donelan Family Wines sources fruit from select growers within Sonoma County, California. The family owned business focuses on producing inimitable, delicious wines from Syrah and Rh�ne varietals. To learn where and how Donelan Family Wines produces its passion, visit http://www.donelanwines.com.