James Berry Vineyard Syrah Blend

I’ve got lots of love for these wines, but I always struggle with when to open. They are fantastic young and equally fantastic with age. Jeb said of this wine, “the greatest GSM blend from California, ever.”, and stamped it with a perfect score. Strong praise, and while I’m not there, I don’t regret opening this.

Consumed from decanter the first 2-3hrs before decanting back to bottle and finishing the remaining third later in the evening. Much better later in the day. Wound up tight initially. Classical high end Paso with this distinct airy-jammyness. So much going on with squeezed blackberries, peppercorn, lots of kirsch. Some garrigue. Mouth coating and a total wave of flavor on the palate…black fruit, cherry cordial, cherry drizzled smoked meats. It’s both supremely juicy and hauntingly tannic at the finish. Even with time to open, the ABV makes itself known, but you know that going in. If you like the style, it’s hard to beat.

A night of Saxum and Booker comparisons. On the nose, bright, ripe; dark cherries, cherries, strawberries, cranberries, pomegranate, vanilla, cinnamon, red vines, crushed volcanic minerals, loamy top soil, dark Burgundian earthiness with dark red florals. The body is M with well resolved tannins. The fruits are bright; dark cherries, cherries, strawberries, cranberries & pomegranate. Vanilla, cinnamon, steeped fruit tea, red vines, cherry cola, crumbled, grey volcanic minerals, limestone chalkiness, stem inclusion, red roses, violets, cherry lifesavers, softened leather, bright red florals, brilliant fresh acidity and a long, lush, round, elegant and well polished finish. This will be even better in 2-3 years. Photos of; the James Berry Vineyard, barrel room, rock shale and Justin barrel tasting. Producer notes and history...Justin's father James was a veterinarian in a fast-growing suburb of San Diego who wanted to live in the countryside. He bought the James Berry Vineyard property when Smith was 10 years old and planted Chardonnay, because that's what he liked to drink. He sold the grapes to Fetzer and argued continually with Bobby Fetzer who wanted them farmed organically. Justin Smith does farm organically, but is not certified because he says, "my dad would keel over." James Smith still lives on the property, a few hundred yards away, and still farms a section of the vineyard for his own pleasure. But he has given over the majority of it to Justin, although that didn't happen for years. It was in the late 1980s, John Alban (Alban Vineyards) that convinced James Smith that the area in western Paso Robles was better for Rhône varieties than Chardonnay. Slowly over time, the Smiths pulled out Chardonnay and replanted to Mourvèdre, Viognier and Syrah. Justin did much of the early work. When he graduated from Cal Poly, he came back to manage the vineyard. As payment, his father gave him one block of Syrah. Justin and his college roommate Matt Trevisan started Linne Calodo winery with the fruit, making 300 cases in their first vintage. They later parted ways and Smith formed Saxum. In 2003, he built the garage winery under his house. By 2004 it was the most crowded building in the county. Villa Creek also made its wine there. At the time, they were all making about 500 cases of wine. Saxum is now well out of the garage and makes around 4500 cases give or take what conditions allow. Only a few hundred cases are not sold to their members and into marketplace, mostly in restaurants in California, New York and Chicago. Saxum's largest production wine is Broken Stones, a multi-vineyard blend that's heavily weighted towards Syrah and is a little more mineral driven. There most famous wine is the one Smith has been farming the longest, the James Berry Vineyard red blend. The stylist labels for Saxum's single vineyard wines are made by local artist Joe Kalionzes. Some change from time to time., but the Paderewski Vineyard, Joe scratched an eagle onto a rock that came from the vineyard and made a block print from it. For the Terry Hoage single vineyard wine, he painted a label and scratched some of the paint away to create a dragonfly because Terry Hoage has a big pond in his vineyard with lots of dragonflies.

En mag. Dense and chewy. The Syrah out wrestles the other grapes. Slick and well made but still quite linear now. Decant.

Dense core of red, blue fruits, minerality and enough acidity to keep things lively. Typical saxum in all the right ways

Still a bit young. Definitely got more in the tank for the future. Good drinking now with ribs.

A behemoth of a wine, super concentrated, pretty oaky, stewed fruits. Took a long time to open up.

At 42% grenache, 24% mourvedre, 21% syrah, 8% counoise, and 5% roussanne, this one is still a bit too young for my tastes (and still merits a 9.4). Give it a couple of more years in bottle or decant it for 2-3 hours. Still awesome, though!

Awesome!!! Deep, dark, brooding . . . and tasty!!

Total fruit bomb. What a lovely way to spend Labor Day with friends.

2004 Vintage. 16% Alcohol. 38% Syrah, 36% Grenache, 26% Mourvèdre. En Magnum. A bit sweeter style. Also put in the decanter and went well with a sweet 49er victory!