Community Tasting Note
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MarkC wrote:
August 25, 2012 - Huh. Drinking two 98-point California "Rhone" blends tonight (coincidence) and both fall short of the expectation set by the score. And let me start by saying that I love Saxum wines. I have been on the list since the '05 vintage, and have been able to taste some earlier vintages as well (a former neighbor is Justin's cousin). That said, this one is, I dare say, overblown and way too one-dimensional. The fruit is a combination of blueberry syrup and hints of cherry cough syrup. Reminds me of a combination of a Washington state Cabernet and a Barossa Shiraz, without actually showing any varietal typicity. Too young? Sure. Hopefully some air (I recorded the bottle and will try again tomorrow) will make a difference. From some of the notes, it appears I may have made a mistake by popping and pouring.
UPDATE (Day 2): What a difference 24 hours makes, although this is a singular experience for me. Normally, I find that big, young wines need air in order to show their fruit, otherwise they tend to be a mess of big tannins and structure and not much else. In this case, the wine showed a lot of fruit, to the point of being "gloppy" out of the gate, but a day later it has actually come more into balance. And it tastes like both Grenache and Saxum--two things it didn't have yesterday. If it had tasted like this yesterday, I would have said it needs time, but has the making of something outstanding. Weird, weird experience for me...1 person found this helpful 6,322 views