Saxum versus The Field

The culmination of a discussion lead by Brian Graftstrom where he wondering if Saxum as good as the hype. The idea is to line some of them up blind against some worthy foes and see it it were really true.

The structure was that someone not at the event contacted each participant to find out their wines and try to make an even lineup of Saxum wines against an even number of "field" wines. These wines were bagged by each participant and often poured into less unique bottles in order to hide their identity as best possible. The wines were served in flights of two, randomly picked. We had two tables from which the bottles were not mixed until all results were counted. All reveals came after the votes were in.

For myself, I did not find this told me a lot. I didn't feel as though we had some of the labels that are really good competition for Saxum in style and quality. As much as I like Alban for instance, it is a very different wine than Saxum to me. Lucia, SQN, Booker, Cayuse, etc would make for better comparisons to me. But it was fun none the less. The Saxums showed well if not spectacular. As I have noted in the past the 2005 wines show the best balance as a vintage for Saxum to date IMO. The Grenache wines and Mouvedre/Cab blend were really out of place IMO. Syrahs and blends strongly leaning on Syrah would make for best comparisons blind.

Easily winning was the Alban Reva which really stood out to me not only in quality but in style. Our number two, three and four wines were fairly close in voted points and no wine out of the top four received any first or second place votes. Each taster voted for three wines in first, second and third. Vote weights were: 5pts for 1st, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.

The results are:

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

My votes were:
1. 2005 Alban Reva
2. 2005 Saxum James Berry
3. 2006 Saxum Bone Rock

• 2007 Saxum Heart Stone Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. The nose is pretty tight only giving up hints of dark chocolate and char with ripeness and heat. Big fruited, juicy and a little bit thick with a touch of heat. Late strong tannins around the edge. Would have hoped for better. Needs time.

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• 2003 Ojai Syrah White Hawk Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Served blind. Nose is a bit light with some milk chocolate and fresh berry juice with some heat. Clean even palate with strong tannin and a touch ripe. Seems tight but I liked the character of this. One of the five I marked positively from the tasting. Nice and could get better.

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• 2005 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Served blind. Nose screams "ALBAN" with some reductive jet fuel like qualities and some nice pepper with air. Big yet balanced and even with a wee bit of heat and strong tannin. Easily the best wine for me in the lineup. Excellent.

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• 2008 Loring Wine Company Divergence

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. Funky with very ripe raisiny, candy like fruit. Lots of chocolate on a lean ripe palate. Feels like it lacks concentration.

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• 2005 Saxum James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. Very tight nose showing hints of chocolate and slight reduction, maybe some heat later. Rich with chocolate flavors yet a hard finish showing a clean structure. Potential but in need of time. My second favorite on the night.

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• 2005 Saxum Cuvée Rocket Block James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles Willow Creek District

  Served blind. Sweet candy like nose with some cocoa and heat. Sweetly flavored with notes of hard candies and sweet fruit. Lean in feel with lingering tannin and solid acidity. I liked the acid/tannin combo but the candy notes pushed it back away for me.

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• 2006 Saxum James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. Ripe fruit and heat on the nose. Sweet fruited and juicy with some heat. A nice mineral quality on the finish. The 06's just don't seem to show the balance of the 05's.

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• 2007 White Dog Cellars Grenache Larner Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  Served blind. Light and juicy. Showing like overripe Zin with some VA and heat. Doesn't seem to show much concentration.

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• 2007 Denner The Ditch Digger

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. Herbal nose with heat. Juicy sweet ripe fruit showing some choco oak but a structured finish. Pretty good. Marked as on of the top 5 for me.

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• 2006 Saxum Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Served blind. Somewhat tight nose showing primary ripe berry fruits. Light and lean showing balance even though a touch soft. A touch of heat. My #3 wine and was surprised it was mine. This was decanted about 6 hours prior to consumption. Pretty good but I would want to give it some more time.

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