2010 Saxum James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Wine Review

This is really in a great spot right now. Drinking superbly. Will it get better? Perhaps, but absolutely worth opening a bottle right now. A blend of 52% Grenache, 26% Mourvèdre and 22% Syrah. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is great with black raspberries, white pepper, black cherries, and slight roasted coffee beans. On the palate, this is soft, gulpable but also deep and complex. Black raspberries and plums intertwined with char, slight earth and roasted meats. A long finish. It is delicious and a show stopper. No rush, this should easily do another ten to fifteen years. It will go great with Indian food, roasted vegetables and almost any meat or fowl dish.

Grade:

A+

Score:

Vintage:

2010

Current Price:

$140.00USD

2008 Hospice du Rhone Events: Highs & Lows of American Rhone-style Wines Tasted

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. The 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008 was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective. Unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. The American wines were mostly from California (144 wineries), but a few examples from Arizona (2 wineries) and Washington State (5 wineries) were also included. While this is a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers aren’t represented, there is still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts. The events included two general tastings and a series of focused seminars.

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America’s Best Rhone Style Red Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.

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Top Ten California Syrahs - 2016

I tend to taste and drink a lot of wine over the course of a year. I am in a few tasting groups, sometimes the wines are consumed at various local wine store tastings and a number drunk with friends and family.

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2015 Saxum James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Wine Review

Vintage:

2015

Score:

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$135.00USD

My friend Charlie came by. Now Charlie likes his wines big and young and we both love Saxum. That sure seemed like a great opportunity to pull and young'un from the cellar and see what it was showing. The surprising thing was how good and accessible this was already. It's not at peak and will improve with cellaring, but if you have more than one, it's not a tragedy to open one now. 33% Grenache, 32% Mourvedre, 24% Syrah and 11% Counoise. Purple in color, slight ruby line at the rim. The nose is great with black raspberries, roasted meats, white pepper and slight floral notes. This