The 2013 Saxum James Berry Vineyard was the winning bottle in the February Installment of Pick My Next Bottle. The wine was decanted for 90 minutes and served with a herb and parmesan crusted pork chop and roasted Yukon gold potatoes.
Saxum Vineyards is located in the Paso Robles AVA of Central California. Founded in the early 2000’s by Justin Smith, a young winemaker who had previously been part-owner of Linne Calodo, Saxum leapt into the limelight in late 2010 when its 2007 James Berry Vineyards wine was named the #1 Wine of 2010 by Wine Spectator. Smith owns the winery with his wife Heather, and produces up to 2,800 cases of wine a year.
The James Berry Vineyard is the Smith family’s estate vineyard. It is located 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean with an average elevation of 1200 feet.
Dark crimson in color. 15.7% ABV. 45% Grenache, 29% Mourvedre, 18% Syrah and 8% Counoise. Heady nose of red and blue fruits, molten licorice, Whitman Sampler box and pepper. Full bodied with super acidity and notable balance. Exceptionally lush and rich. Silky and seamless. Kirsch, raspberry liqueur, boysenberry and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish. Just a breathtaking wine. So good now but this will undoubtedly drink well for another 3-5 years.
My rating: 97 points.
The 2019 version of this wine was offered to members of the mailing list a little over a month ago.
Current wines from Saxum are available via the mailing list at $98 per bottle. There is a several year wait before you can expect to receive an offer.
I’ve written about Saxum previously in Winery Mailing Lists: The Fab 5 and The 2020 Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings.