David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

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. — 7 years ago

Vin Zering

9.7

WOW wine. Outstanding fruits, some soft tannin for the 1999 masterful work of Justin Smith. — 9 years ago

Jonathan Ta

9.3

My first experience with Torrin and this is good stuff. Stylistically more similar to Linne Calodo than Saxum and surprisingly well balanced. — 9 years ago

Gio Boneso

8.9

My nonnas trying to drink all her older wine — 10 years ago

Gunja Gargeshwari

9.2

Awesome Syrah from Washington!! Compares head to head with the linne colado from last week! — 7 years ago

Ara Aslanian

9.3

Fantastic wine - the name isn't bad either. — 7 years ago

with Cellar

Eric Gonsenheim

10

Fantastic and fruity. Lots of depth to the flavor. Good wine maker in Paso Robles — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.1

Austere aromatically. Slightly more giving on the palate and in a juicy style, with framboise, brown sugar, black olive, and wet clay. — 8 years ago

Mike Kane

9.4

Held up really well. — 9 years ago

Raj Ahluwalia

9.3

Nice day for a Grenache Blanc! — 9 years ago

with S

Paul Lopez

9.1

The Original....last in the cellar, shared with Justin and Matt. Still held up. Thanks guys! — 10 years ago

Brian London

Owner 4Play Wines

8.9

First vintage of James Berry Vineyard — 11 years ago

with Tanya

Steve Wilcox

9.0

got better w/ air but a bit dissapointing. May need a year — 7 years ago

Eric Linderman

9.3

Really funky start but leveled off with brighter fruit. One of the better rose' I've had. Could be decanted. Cloudy in appearance — 7 years ago

Keith Whitener WSET Diploma, CSW

9.1

Ordered this blind at Linne Calodo, 2nd label, Because of the awesomeness of their wines at tasting! Rich dark purple — 7 years ago

Isabelle Parenti

9.3

Very smooth, took a couple of minutes to open up, paired well with steak on the grill — 8 years ago

Curtis Osborn

9.3

Curtis had this 9 years ago

Harris Goldberg

9.3

Great nose! While mostly Syrah it's the Grenache I can taste and smell. Great wine! — 9 years ago

Lee White

9.5

Delicious! — 9 years ago