Saxum Fall 2017 Release

Saxum is up…ordered away all they would let me have.

Hello old friends!

It is so nice to write to you on this beautiful summer day. I hope you are taking advantage of the warm weather and getting in some good summer fun. Today we are offering you some wines from our 2015 vintage, and oh what beautiful gems they are.

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the 2015s. It was an anomaly of a vintage. First off, 2015 was the third consecutive drought year. The vineyards received abysmal rainfall and the vines were stressing. Due to the stress and unfavorable spring conditions, the vines set meager, and I mean MEAGER crop loads. Worst hit was the Syrah and Grenache, which unfortunately, is the bulk of what we produce. Anyways, enough belly aching over low yields……back to the wines! The type of wine that you would expect to make from tiny yields and extended drought conditions would be massively concentrated behemoths. Thick, dark wines that you would have to smack the bottom of the bottle to get them to pour out. Surprisingly, we found the opposite type of wine when we started to press the young 2015s into barrel. Everyone stopped and scratched their heads. They are beautiful, nuanced wines! They possess the awesome spice of a cold vintage, like 2011, along with the sweet tannins of a cool, long growing season, like 2007. Hmmmmmm, what is going on? Well, here’s my theory, and if anybody else has one, let me know because I’m all ears. 2015 was an unusually humid summer, something we never see here in dry Paso Robles. A monsoonal weather pattern set up, possibly due to the warm El Niño waters off the Pacific, and it culminated in mid-July with a crazy lightning storm, dumping almost three inches of rain on us. Nobody had ever seen this. Even the old farmers who have been living here for close to 90 years! Now in the vineyard, it was too early to impact the fruit because the clusters hadn’t begun to color up yet. But the storm seemed to rejuvenate the stressed out vines. They perked up and started to smile. Luckily, there weren’t any more freak rain events for the rest of the season and harvest went super smooth. We were able to pick when we wanted to pick and ferment exactly the way we wanted to ferment. And oh, did I mention we had a brand stinking new winery to play with!? New fermentors, new equipment, and so much glorious space! (The new place is 6 times bigger than le garage of old.) We had the ability to put the fruit inside the precise fermentor size or type we thought best. (Wood, concrete, or stainless steel?) And, something new to us, we could leave it there as long as we wanted to because we now had enough fermentation space for every bit of fruit. No need to turn a tank like days of old! Anyways, I’m digressing again…… the wines! Downright beautiful (this is the word of the day). They are open and aromatic, the tannins are soft and supple, they are layered and nuanced beyond all belief. They are already enjoyable. You can drink them while waiting for the 14s to come around. Probably even the 13s and 12s for that matter! On the other hand, I believe they will age magnificently. The balance is perfect.

Here are the wines we have for you today.

2015 JAMES BERRY VINEYARD ($98)
33% Grenache, 32% Mourvèdre, 24% Syrah, 11% Counnoise (15.5% alc.) 1195 cases produced
Can I start by saying this wine is beautiful? Have I used that word too much? Screw it, it’s BEAUTIFUL! Aged 75% in puncheons (a good deal new French oak) and 25% concrete amphora. The 2015 version has the lowest level of Grenache any JBV has seen since, well, maybe ever, due to the poor set of our old Grenache vines. It is an aromatic beast, with chocolate dipped cherries dominating, but following closely on it’s heels are the notes of what the French call garrigue and us Californians call sagebrush, black sage to pinpoint it. The mouthfeel is soft and supple, inviting in it’s open structure, with this great core of pure freshness, and the finish just doesn’t stop.

2015 G2 VINEYARD ($98)
56% Grenache, 44% Mourvèdre (15.4% alc.) 585 cases produced
We switched things up a little from the 2014 vintage with Grenache taking the lead (and it will probably continue to be this way). It is an open book of bright, juicy, red fruits. Raspberry, and maybe a little strawberry, with a lovely briary dark side to it. Maybe some licorice and fennel coming from the Mourvèdre. What I really enjoy is that every time I have tasted this wine it has been different. Sometimes showing the darker Mourvèdre side, sometimes the juicy Grenache side. In a word, it’s a dynamic wine, a real treat to enjoy. Simply following it slowly throughout your meal is a joy. (I had it with some BBQ ribs last night, great pairing!) From one sip to the next it will develop new facets that you hadn’t noticed in the previous sip. Give it a year or two in the cellar before popping. The best is definitely yet to come.

2015 TERRY HOAGE VINEYARD ($98)
50% Syrah, 34% Grenache, 16% Mourvèdre (15.7% alc.) 175 cases produced
I’m really excited about this wine. Unfortunately there’s only 4 barrels to go around so count yourself lucky if you see this offering. As usual with THV, the Syrah from the own rooted meter by meter planting was fermented in barrel with 50% whole cluster. This is usually one of the first picks of the year and we were blown away by the spice. More pepper than 2011! The second pick at THV was the Grenache which we co-ferment with a little Mourvèdre. It was very open and red fruited with some classic THV watermelon. Putting the two lots together was magic because the crushed black pepper came through while the rich, red fruits also persisted. It is heavenly, and I can say with confidence that it’s my favorite Terry Hoage wine I have ever made.

So, I know it probably sounds worn out and cheesy, but I really do appreciate you, our dear customer. I have so much joy in being able to do what I love doing, growing grapes and making wine. Without you, there would be no Saxum. Thank you so much! You are all such beautiful, beautiful people!

Cheers,
Heather and Justin Smith

Still not on the list. Five years.

All in for another great sounding release.

With all the price gouging going on nowadays Justin’s wines are becoming better and better value.

Anyone passing on theirs?

Big day with Saxum, Rivers Marie and Carlisle all hitting at the same time!

Anyone tried them? Preferences?

Hang in there, I have a friend who just got on on his sixth year.

Next year, I bet!

Second waver. My allocation comes next week. I have been told to only expect the James Berry.

ill take sloppy seconds from anyone!

Thanks for the orders, you guys are the best!

Let me know if you have any questions for me.

And to you all on the wait list, thanks for the patience!

I will take any leftovers and will pay +10% of the cost of the wine for the hassle. Thanks

ordered my full boat… and looked at what I have in stock… may be the largest single producer in my cellar… gotta start drinking some of these as they are starting to mature

Justin - Thanks for participating in the opportunity for dialogue on the wines.
I haven’t checked the percentages for all of the wines, but it seems like the % of Grenache seems to be such a big variable, particularly in the James Berry blend (and Heart Stone as well). For James Berry - it seems like some big changes year to year (over 60% in some years as I recall).

Is that driven by yields for a particular vintage or is the tasting/blending that you do the principal driver or is tje changing blend driven by new vineyard plantings coming of age?

justin- when is the first saxum white coming? inquiring minds want to know!

still patiently waiting and will likely have to hang in for a few more as I’m only 3+yrs and counting

i’m at 5 1/2 years John and still waiting so keep the faith!! I think I am getting pretty close. (fingers crossed)

Some of both! 2015 being low on the Grenache was due to really poor set, I wish I had more! As for plantings, we have increased our overall Grenache plantings, at all our vineyards. For 2016 we have 6 Grenache based cuvees! And JBV is around 50% I think, which I think is a good spot for that vineyard.

Hey Steve,

This year will be our first attempt at making a white. At JBV we have now planted Grenache blanc, Roussanne, Petite Manseng and Chenin blanc, 40/30/20/10% in that order for acreage. We shall see how we end up using the different varietals in the final blend. I’m really excited about this project. Hopefully it doesn’t suck!

Thanks Justin for the notes/info on the 2015 vintage. Look forward to a second year of the G2 and a future white.

Justin

Please please keep the white away from heavy oak, there are so many oak heavy whites we dont need another one. Be great if you could have it driven by minerality with minimal oak and none of the heavy richness that for some reason people seem to want in Cali Chards. Keep on knocking it our of the park with the reds, they get better and better