TN: 2005 Saxum Rocket Block

WINE TALK
1

Deep dark color to it. Took a couple of hours to really show. Nose of Mocha, black Cherries and a ton of other dark fruits really coming into play along with just a bit of earth. Full bodied wine with the dark fruits really taking over and showing itself all the way through to the finish. Good acidity to keep this from becoming flabby and the tannins were there to give this some good backbone.

The thing is, on night 2, the fruit was definitely still there, but all the acid had left. The tannins softened, which was great, but it all of a sudden felt just a touch off balance to me with no acid to speak of to balance out all that fruit.

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Yoni,

Thanks for the note. I’ve had a couple of these over the past year, and it seems as though there is a bit of bottle variation. The first one I had was consensus WOTN, with the competition being SQN, Alban, Herman Story. The second was very closed down, not giving much in the nose or on the palate.

Is it your opinion that, since day 2 showed a significant drop in acidity, that the ageing potential for these is lessened?

3

I have not had nor do I own any of these ( have to get all my Saxum on the secondary market), does anyone know why Justin isn’t bottling this anymore and just using to blend- it seems every note i have seen are eveybody raves about it. Thanks for the note Yoni- at least you make me feel better about not having any.

4

Brian,
I am by no means anywhere near an expert, but yes, that is exactly what I thought. The first day it was opened, I would have sworn up and down that this had a very long life ahead of it and it really was wonderful. But, on the 2nd day I wasn’t so sure. I’m not big on naming the type of fruit or what scents I’m getting in a wine, but balance more than anything is what I look for and on the second day, this particular bottle didn’t have it.

5

Joe,
I asked Justin why he was no longer bottling the Rocket Block during HdR this year (BTW during the Friday afternoon tasting he was pouring the 03 Rocket Block which was drinking great). He told me it was a pricing decision and that he preferred to blend the grapes into the James Berry bottling and sell at $55/bottle as opposed to selling it as Rocket Block at $75/bottle.

I assume continuing to bottle the grapes as Rocket Block and dropping the price $20 was never considered. [highfive.gif]

6

Thanks Brian, dropping it $20 would have been nice.

7

FWIW Justin implied recently that he might bottle Rocket Block again in the near future on a thread on **** erm… Ebob.
BTW, Im not grenache expert, but (and pardon the heresy) Ive had 3 bottles of 05 Rocket Block and Ive never had a grenache from anywhere that was as good as any of the three bottles. (My limited experiences include several Clos des Papes, several Pegau, one off vintage Rayas, SQN, Outpost, Alto Moncayo etc.) Go figure.

8

Thanks for the note. I have to admit I am no fan of Saxum wines having found very few to really like. Glad that others like them though

9

To be clear, I loved this bottle the first night, and every single other bottle of Saxum I have ever had has held up well. I just felt that this one didn’t.

10

Cant comment on that Yoni…I usually evaluate big Cali wines over three nights, this particular bottle has never lasted more than two hours… [drinkers.gif]

11

One of my favorite wines. All of Justin’s 05’s are great to me but the Rocket Block really stands out. I’m glad the Grenache will be put to good use though in the James Berry blend. That is consistently my favorite from Saxum. I would like to see more Grenache bottlings from California though. I think a lot of Syrah is growing where they maybe should have tried Grenache.

12

Does Justin post here? Someone should email him. I thought the decision not to bottle a separate Rocket Block was a one-time thing?

13

I havent seen him here, but about 2 months ago he posted on ebob and said he will probably bottle RB again