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

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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 2022 Somnus, San Luis Obispo County
    Jeb Dunnuck
    Rating: 96-98 (8/1/2025)
    A blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Graciano, and Touriga Nacional from the James Berry, Cayucos Ridge, and G2 vineyards, the 2022 Somnus was vinified with a healthy amount of stems and brought up in a mix of new and used 225-liter, 300-liter, and 600-liter French and Austrian barrels. It displays a pure, deep purple hue and offers ripe black and blue fruits, white pepper, cedary spice, and graphite. Full-bodied, complex, layered, and pretty, with a great finish, this is a smoking good effort that will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and drink well for 15+ years.
  • Saxum 2022 Somnus, San Luis Obispo County
    Vinous
    Rating: 95 (4/1/2026)
    The 2022 Somnus is lively in the glass, with a burst of raspberry, sweet sage and a dusting of autumnal spice. It presents silken textures and a sensation of liquid stone, somehow weighty yet spry, as mineral-infected red fruits saturate the senses. It leaves grippy tannins and nuances of candied citrus offset by a bitter tinge of clove as a blackberry concentration fades.