Your next offering from Saxum Vineyards will begin Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Our wines will be sold first come, first served. We will invite you (via email) to place an order online on July 9th around 9 am PST.
The release will include the following wines.
2022 James Berry Vineyard White ($138), 2022 James Berry Vineyard Red ($138), 2022 G2 Vineyard ($138), 2022 Paderewski Vineyard ($138),
2021 Rocket Block ($159), and 2021 Bone Rock ($159).
Due to limited production, the following magnums may be offered as wish requests.
2022 James Berry Vineyard Red 1.5 L ($276), 2022 G2 Vineyard 1.5 L ($276),
2022 Paderewski Vineyard 1.5 L ($276), 2021 Rocket Block 1.5 L ($318),
We had a great tasting experience at Linne Calodo last time in Paso. Linne’s founder was college roommates with Justin and they both went into wine after their college days.
Linne makes a variety of Rhone, Spanish, Bordeaux and California Zin based blends, with their heritage being Rhone style.
I have been buying Saxum for years, holding my nose as the prices continued upward.
My Linne Calodo experience has now changed that. They are priced about $40 or more per bottle less and frankly are as good or better. They also have a secondary line called Slacker, though not as spectacular as their regular offering, they go for $30-$40’s ish a bottle.
I am not posting to bash Saxum. I am a fan, but I found a strong, less expensive alternative and thought others would like to know and may want to explore another, but similar option.
thanks for this. like many i’ve been well aware of linne calodo for years; haven’t had them in years as well. glad to hear their quality is still high.
i’ve bought saxum for a fairly long time. lately i’ve been buying more of their higher priced reds (RB, hexe etc) and less of their ‘lower’ priced reds.
it’s never a bad thing to be reminded (this includes consumers and producers) that there’s other great paso wines at lesser costs.
Side note, was a buyer for years, but last couple cycles haven’t. Iam still getting offer letters. Makes me wonder if their wait list is not getting used up.
That is interesting because I bought from 2006 to 2012. When I didn’t buy the 2013 vintage I never saw another email.
One or two years ago I was actually going to call/email and ask if I could buy some in the next offer, but then they increased all their prices by $30 or so and I lost interest.
I haven’t made my way onto the Saxum list yet but have had many bottles and they aren’t hard to come by at auction with some age and near the release price. In my view they are still at the top of the Paso/Willow Creek pile, but there are so many good options that are slightly less expensive. I absolutely love Ledge (Saxum’s next door neighbor) and they don’t get nearly enough attention. In addition to Linne Calodo mentioned above, Torrin, Turtle Rock, Herman Story, Law, Epoch and others all make great stuff that is of a similar style. I went to Cal Poly in the 2000s and the wine is completely unrecognizable to what I came up on back then.
Thanks for the reply - but still looking at pricing info re: previous years if anyone has them.
There are, of course, plenty of other great wines coming out of Paso, but I guess I look at what Justin is doing is unique to him and his site - and the other sites he works with. One can find wines that may be ‘as enjoyable’ as what Saxum does . . . but they are not Saxum.
Likewise, one can now find ‘substitutes’ for SQN but . . . they are not SQN.
I think they are up about $3/bottle from the last release and they include shipping.
Shipping I am finding overall is being dealt with better from other wineries. Included in many cases for 6-12 bottle shipments.
Shipping costs and packaging and shipping materials costs are all continuing to rise. Wineries that are offering ‘free shipping’ are, in essence, increasing their discounts tremendously. Of course, in the case of Saxum and others, there are no wine club discounts . . .
Totally agree and sorry I’m no help on pricing! Had a 2017 G2 last week and it was incredible. I just like to cheerlead Paso when I can because it still has a bad rep in many circles. I bet Justin worked with or trained lots of the folks behind the other great spots I mentioned (many of which are homegrown Paso talent).
Here’s an interesting side note. The Gratias, the bottles Justin gave members for free ($10 for shipping), there are 2 on Winebid and they are at $91 each already.
Here is what I have from my records for pricing for the regular tier.
2019-2012 $98
2011 $89
2010 $89
2009 $85
2008 $75
2007 $75 Broken Stones $45
2006-2005 Booker $55
Heart Stone $55
James Berry $55
Broken Stones $45
Bone Rock $75
2004 Broken Stones $38
Bone Rock $65
While I haven’t purchased since the price increase, due to lack of communication, I too have been bumped to the back of the allocation list. I still think Saxum is the GOLD Standard when it comes to new world Syrah/Grenache style of wines. As other have listed, there are many other wineries that are making very good examples of similar wines to Saxum at much less pricing. YMMV.
And, I’m not posting this to bash Saxum. They have to do what is best for the winery and their business model. After all, it’s a business not a non-profit.
I hear that mostly from people who are kinda into wine, feel like they know a bit–at least enough not to love the 16% jammy zins of old–but don’t invest the time to follow trends or learn about the massive difference between east and west Paso wines (I’m sure someone on the east side makes great wine, but been a while since I tasted anything from that way).
But I’ve also seen comments here and there on this site, which I guess doesn’t shock me because the great wines coming out of Paso are still BIG wines.