2019 Saxum White James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

This is a blend of 46% Grenache Blanc, 31% Roussanne, and 23% Chenin Blanc from the great James Berry vineyard in Paso Robles. What a delicious wine! Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose is great with honey, orange peel, minerals, quince and slight wild thyme note. Full bodied. Slightly oily texture. On the palate, this is nuanced and complex. Great balance. Orange citrus, quince with slight honey and lots of minerality. Long finish. This is still young but could probably go another ten years and gain in complexity what it loses in vibrancy. Still, if you just have one bottle, open in the next few years. Great on its own, this will work great with poultry or pork and in fact, was perfect with vegetarian chili.

Grade:

A+

Score:

Vintage:

2019

Current Price:

$160.00USD

America's Best Rhone Style White Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Like many lovers of Rhone style wines from America, we have just returned from the 2008 edition of the annual Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco (March 18). This was the 11th year that the Rhone Rangers , a group of about 200 American producers of wines using 22 varietals traditional to France’s Rhone Valley, have shown off their wines at this public tasting event. This year, about 138 wineries presented approximately 520 wines. During the tasting, we enthusiastically tasted as many wines as we could within the 5 hours (3 public and 2 trade/media) the event was open. We tasted 30 white wines first, and then we tasted 50 reds. We skipped the rosés, not because we don’t love them, but because we didn’t have time. Kudos to Rhone Rangers for providing eco-friendly paper spit cups instead of the plastic cups so common at other tastings. We divided our attention between wines and producers we have known previously, producers new to us, and specific bottlings we didn’t already know. While we found many wines to admire, we are sure we missed other gems.

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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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2018 Saxum White James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage:

2018

Score:

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$171.00USD

This is a blend of 66% Grenache Blanc, 28% Roussanne, and 6% Chenin Blanc. Medium golden in color, clear and bright. The nose is great. explosive. Apricot jam, slight gun powder, lemon, orange peel and almonds. Full bodied. Just enough acidity to be lively. On the palate, this is delicious. A big wine but enough going on that it is vibrant and not stodgy. Flavors of lemon, slight orange and slighter apricots with underlying minerality. Long finish. Delicious. Still young but open and drinking great. Drink over the next seven to ten years. Lovely on its own, this will work well

2018 Saxum White James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage:

2018

Score:

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$150.00USD

This is a white blend made from 66% Grenache Blanc, 28% Roussanne, and 6% Chenin Blanc. Pop and pour, this needed a good hour or more to really open up. Pale golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has a cream soda note. With air, it shows wax and lemons. With even more air, some tropical fruits come out (pineapple and guava?). Full bodied. Good acidity. Light tannins. On the palate, the experience is similar to the nose; cream soda to waxy lemons to tropical fruits. A creamy texture. Some warmth on the finish but this also goes away with air. This is obviously young and sho

2017 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de Tablas, USA, California, Paso Robles, Wine Review

Vintage:

2017

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$40.00USD

This is a blend of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Picardan, and Clairette Blanche. From a 375ml size bottle which is a great format for early drinking or when one wants just another glass or two. Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose is nice with pears, spice, slight wax, and slight honey. On the palate, this is full bodied. The pears come thru along with the baking spices. Good balance. Light tannins. Long finish. White Rhone varietals can be tricky to age, but this seems like it should be good for five to seven and probably more. It will work well with sea

2019 Saxum White James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

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America's Best Rhone Style White Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

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2018 Saxum White James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

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