Benchmark Wine Cellar
Saxum James Berry Vineyard 2007 1.5L
The Winery
Saxum Vineyards
Saxum Vineyard’s founder, Justin Smith, is Paso Robles first vintner to be raised in the vines, and has developed a deep respect for each of his seven vineyard sites and the Rhone style wines he produces. The high quality, low yielding winery is credited for revolutionizing Paso Robles winemaking.
Their Templeton Gap/Willow Creek location is characterized by rocky calcareous soils, steep hillsides, perfectly sunny days and cool breezes from the Pacific Ocean. This Central Coast rock star focuses on producing Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre blends; crafting some of the most sought after and expensive wines in Paso Robles history.
The production is up to 4,000 cases with 38 of his wines scoring over 95 points by the Wine Advocate and Saxum’s 2007 James Berry Vineyard earning Wine Spectator’s 2010 Wine of the Year. Smith eagerly shares his experiences and knowledge with his neighbor winemakers and utilizes the help from his childhood friends in the cellar. Uniqueness and creativity is found on the bottle as their labels are crafted by a local artist, making it as highly expressive as their wines.
Summary
The Saxum James Berry Vineyard 2007 is a flagship Rhône-style blend from the renowned James Berry Vineyard in Paso Robles, showcasing the region's potential for high-quality wine production. This GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) blend features a significant proportion of Grenache at 41%, with 31% Mourvèdre and 28% Syrah, contributing to its rich character. It exhibits a deep purple hue and an enticing bouquet of black raspberries, cherry, and spice. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, offering a seamless texture with remarkable concentration and freshness. The use of French oak enhances its complexity, making it a standout in the modern Rhône movement.
Tasting Notes
- WA100
- Utter perfection, and one of the most profound Rhone Ranger wines I have ever tasted is the 2007 James Berry Vineyard Proprietary Red, a blend of 41% Grenache, 31% Mourvedre, and 28% Syrah (15.8% alcohol). It would be an amazing wine to insert in a tasting of the most profound 2007 Chateauneuf du Papes. As with many prodigious wines, the extraordinary freshness, purity, equilibrium, and singularity of this effort is breathtaking. Its dense purple color is accompanied by an extraordinary, incredibly pure, all enveloping, intense, sweet nose of black raspberries, kirsch, spring flowers, spice box, and pepper. Full-bodied with not a hard edge to be found, it is stunningly concentrated with unreal purity, a voluptuous texture, and remarkable freshness for a wine of such power, depth, and concentration. This 2007 will be approachable young, although I would not be surprised to see it close down given the relatively elevated proportion of Mourvedre, and it should drink well for 12-15 years.
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