Community Tasting Notes 104

• Geoff Likes this wine: 96 points

  October 7, 2019 - Spectacular nose, dark fruit, secondary notes, medium to full bodied, smooth, tannins resolving, perhaps even elegant. Long finish.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• sonodoc Likes this wine: 95 points

  July 28, 2019 - Very enjoyable! Had as a pop and pour. Lots of red and black fruit, smooth tannins, very smooth with a long finish.

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• Cailles wrote: 96 points

  July 13, 2019 - Saxum Tasting (Zurich): Comprehensive vertical tasting of several Saxum vineyards and a total of 24 wines. Most wines on a good to very good level in the 93 to 95 points range, just one on an exceptional (97+ points) level (James Berry Bone Rock 08). The consistency of the wine-making at Saxum is impressive but the tasting proofed to be rather a bit boring with less difference between the vineyards and vintages showing than expected and wished for. Heart Stone stood out a bit (bigger vats used, little new oak) thanks to more terroir expression. James Berry (mostly Grenache) and James Berry Bone Rock (elevated complexity and sexiness) were great. Best vintage (we tried wines from 2003 to 2011) is clearly the 2007 which produced the wines with the most depth.
  
  TN: I'm a big fan of Central Californian Grenache based wines as the combination of the warm climate with the elegance and light-footedness of grape seem a match made in heaven. Hence it is no wonder that the highest scores in this mini-vertical (6 vintages) went to the wines with the highest share of Grenache in the blend (perfect correlation!). The 2011 consists of 69% Grenache (rest Syrah, Mourvedre). Stems, smoke, earth, minerality and red berries on the nose and palate. The stems, herbal component added complexity and an additional layer of freshness. I liked that a lot. Powerful on the nose, light-footed, medium-bodied on the palate. Good precision, length and balanced. Very fine tannins. Great to drink today without a decant.

  3 people found this helpful Comment

• markcic Likes this wine: 95 points

  July 4, 2019 - Opened early afternoon and brought to the club for the 4th of July celebration. The nose was dark fruit and chocolate. The palate was dark berries, plums, figs, tobacco and hints of chocolate. The finish went on forever. Just a great bottle of wine.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• larrybbaldwin Likes this wine: 92 points

  July 4, 2019 - Popped and poured. Bright red fruits without any distinctive aromas. Bright acids, big fruit and moderate tannins. Beautiful but still young. We should have decanted/aerated first

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 5

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2011
• Type Red
• Producer Saxum
• Varietal Red Rhone Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard James Berry Vineyard
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Central Coast
• Appellation Paso Robles

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 13 (0%)
• In Cellars 2,584 (64%)
• Consumed 1,419 (35%)

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