Saxum Vineyards

Justin Smith, Photo by Lawrence K. Ho for LATimes

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Country of Origin: USA
Location: Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
People: Justin & Heather Smith, Owner | Justin Smith, Winemaker
Viticulture: Practicing Organic

Items

Saxum Vineyards 2021 'Broken Stones' Paso Robles Login AG 95 WA 95 Please inquire

Justin Smith is one of Paso Robles’ superstars. His Saxum wines have achieved great fame and amassed a cult following.

Saxum Vineyards is focused on producing Rhone inspired red blends from the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles. Production is kept to 4,000-5,000 cases a year divided between seven different cuvees: Broken Stones, James Berry Vineyard, Bone Rock, Booker Vineyards, Paderewski Vineyard, Heart Stone Vineyard and Terry Hoage Vineyard. Most of the cuvees are sourced from Justin’s estate James Berry Vineyard. The James Berry Vineyard is an exceptional hillside site planted in pure white limestone and fossilized shells; it is a site that provides extraordinary richness, minerality, precision, and individuality. It is located 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean with an average elevation of 1,200 feet. The cooling ocean breezes help the grapes maintain acidity. Rocket Block, Bone Rock, Broken Stones and James Berry Vineyard wines all come from this site. The Heart Stone Vineyard is a separate vineyard within the estate.

Justin Smith farms all of his vineyards with organic principles. He does not use chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. Irrigation is rarely needed as his vines’ roots penetrate deeply through the soil. Everything is done by hand, and yields are kept naturally low from the rock soils and extensive thinning. In the cellar, Justin takes a minimalist approach. Saxum’s wines are never racked off their lees and are bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Media Links
The Orange County Register: Paso Robles' Saxum Digs Deep in Quest for Quality
Wine Spectator: Featured Winemaker: Justin Smith of Saxum
Wine Business.com: Justin Smith to be Honored as the 2013 Paso Robles Wine Industry Person of the Year
Stolpman Vineyard Wine Journal: Research Trip: Justin Smith of Saxum
Wine-Searcher: Saxum's Justin Smith Keeps Paso Robles Cool
Alister & Paine: 2010 James Berry from Saxum Vineyards
A Long Pour: The Princes of West Paso {Matt Trevisan & Justin Smith}
A Long Pour: Saxum {Deeper Roots}

Reviews

  • Saxum 2021 'Broken Stones' Paso Robles
    Vinous
    Rating: 95 (7/25/2024)
    A whiff of savory herbs and earth tones, black olives, and musky currant smolders up from the 2021 Broken Stones. It is silky and round with supple red berry fruits complemented by cedary spices and rosy inner florals. The 2021 keeps the energy high while finishing staining and long with a liquid floral concentration, steeped plums and pleasantly bitter tinge. While lovely today, this possesses the balance to age beautifully. This is the first vintage of Broken Stones that contains some of the new plantings of San Luis Obispo coast Syrah from Saxum's new vineyards.
  • Saxum 2021 'Broken Stones' Paso Robles
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 95 (6/27/2024)
    Always a non-vineyard designated Syrah blend, the 2021 Broken Stones combines 54% Syrah, 24% Mataro, 20% Graciano and 2% Petite Sirah. It was fermented with 30% stems and aged 22 months in 75% new 225-liter barrique, the highest portion of smaller barrels used in the Saxum roster due to its tannic levels. The nose opens with a lavish floral perfume and savory, polished, opaque fruit aromas. The palate is full-bodied and concentrated before catapulting into a clean, lifted, juicy finish of crushed stones and fine yet persistent, swelling tannins framed with pleasingly rounded new-oak influence. This reacted quickly to aeration and gained substantial length from the first pour, suggesting it is best left to unwind a few years in the cellar.