Saxum vs. the field
Palate in Glendale, CA
Tasted Monday, October 4, 2010 by grafstrb with 1,093 views
Introduction
This event came about from me positing that there's a lot of great Central Coast CA Rhone wines out there that don't have "Saxum" on the label, and that I would "relish" the opportunity to pit a couple of my "field" selections against some Saxums in a BLIND tasting. Both of my offerings (Denner and Loring) did, indeed, beat all the Saxums on our table (although I technically did cheat by including the Loring, which isn't a Rhone-style wine).
This tasting was conducted in a blind format, in flights of 2.
Flight 1 - Introductory White (1 Note)
Flight 2 - Blind Flight 1 (2 Notes)
My winner of this flight was the Ojai.
Flight 3 - Blind Flight 2 (2 Notes)
My winner of this flight was the Alban.
Flight 4 - Blind Flight 3 (2 Notes)
My winner of this flight was the James Berry
Flight 5 - Blind Flight 4 (1 Note)
The other wine in this flight was the 2007 White Dog - Larner Grenache. It was my least favorite of this tasting. It's not entered into CT, and I didn't feel like "creating" an entry for it just so I could write a bad note for it, hence its absence from this "event" write-up.
My winner of this flight was the Saxum.
Flight 6 - Blind Flight 5 (2 Notes)
My winner of this flight was the Denner.
Closing
My overall rankings, from favorite to least favorite
1. 2005 Alaban - Reva Syrah (easily my favorite of the tasting)
2. 2005 Saxum - James Berry (so much better than the ‘06 and ‘07 bottlings of the same, imo)
3. 2003 Ojai - White Hawk Syrah
4. 2007 Denner - Ditchdigger
5. 2008 Loring - Divergence
6. 2006 Saxum - James Berry
7. 2007 Saxum - Heartstone
8. 2006 Saxum - Bone Rock
9. 2005 Saxum - Rocket Block
10. 2007 White Dog - Larner Grenache
For me the Alban was the clear winner of the evening, and the ‘05 James Berry was the clear #2. The wines I ranked 3 through 5 were all very closely clumped together, and were all a clear step or two above the next tier. That “next tier” is comprised of the wines I ranked 6 through 8, which were all Saxums; these all came across as “ho hum CA Rhone wines” to me, and are great examples of my general feeling that “if you like Saxum, then there’s plenty of other similar CA Rhones out there, too.” The ‘05 Rocket Block was a clear step down from the aforementioned “next tier,” and the ‘07 White Dog was a clear last place for me.
Group's voting:
Vote weights were: 5pts for 1st, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.
1. 2005 Alban Reva .......................5,3,5,5,3,5,5,5 ----- 36
2. 2007 Denner The Ditch Digger ....1,1,3,5,3 -------- 13
3. 2008 Loring Divergence .............5,3,3 ------------ 11
4. 2005 Saxum James Berry .........3,1,3,1 ----------- 8
5. 2007 Saxum Heart Stone ..........1 ------------------ 1
5. 2003 Ojai White Hawk ...............1 ------------------ 1
5. 2006 Saxum James Berry .........1 ------------------ 1
5. 2006 Saxum Bone Rock ............1 ----------------- 1
9. 2005 Saxum Rocket Block .........- ------------------ 0
9. 2007 White Dog Grenache ........- ------------------ 0
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 45 minutes –
NOSE: pear; white orchard fruits; floral; hint of petrol; unusually intense and complex.
BODY: medium bodied.
TASTE: wonderful flavors - underripe pluot, a bit white sugary, but not as much as I would have expected from a Spat. of such tender age; a hint of background diesel; very nicely balanced; this young WS has incredible focus, and drives forward with an intense purposeful determination. Probably the best WS Spat. I’ve yet to taste — give this some time in the cellar and the sky is its limit.
Gut impression score: 95 - 97
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