TN: Saxum Bone Rock Vertical (and a few others)

Last night we had a few friends over to taste thru a vertical of Saxum Bone Rock. I had really been looking forward to seeing how well these wines aged and changed over the years. The wines were opened, not decanted for an hour before serving. Then we had three hours to watch them in their glass. All wines were served blind with artisan breads and cheeses. Quite a night!

2006 White Helix Chardonnay James Berry Vineyard
This was a special release made for Polaner in New York. I thought is a good way to start the festivities. I think most people knew it was a Cal Chard and guessed from Paso to keep on theme. Green gold in color, clear and bright. The nose has vanilla cream soda and limes. Nice rich texture but a good bit of oak. Vanilla and grapefruit on the palate. Silky texture. A bit of heat on the finish. I think I liked this a bit better six months ago, but this is still very nice. 50+4+12+18+6=90

2001 Saxum Grenache
This was my last of a few bottles Justin Smith gave me about 7 years ago. He was not bottling this at the time except for personal consumption. I was worried this might be over the hill, but I need not have. It was very nice. Purple in color with some ruby swirls. The nose is great with dark chocolate, raspberries and a dusty cocoa powder. On the palate, this has a dusty quality that is cool. Cocoa and raspberries. Lots of layering showing maturity. The only sign of this getting long in the tooth was the finish but even there, it was less fruit and more earthiness. I am not sure if this is 100% (Justin?) 50+4+14+18+7=93

The Bone Rocks:
2000 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock Syrah
14.8% Alc. This was the groups WOTN. The inaugural vintage has held up very well. Inky purple in color with some ruby at the rim. Opaque and bright. The nose is great! Complex, black raspberries, grilled meats, bacon fat and black pepper. Full bodied. Youthful. Sweet black and red raspberries. Showing layering but tight. Nice finish. Really impressive. 50+4+14+18+8=94

2006 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock
16.7% Alc. This is 76% Syrah, 18% Mourvèdre, 6% Grenache. This was so tight on opening it needed a couple of hours just to open a bit. That said, this will be an incredible wine. Inky purple, opaque and bright. The nose is black raspberries and espresso. Full bodied. On the palate, this is well balanced and holds the alcohol well. Black raspberries with a lush texture. Some peppery notes too. Long finish. Huge upside. 50+5+13+18+8=94

2002 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock Syrah
15.9% Alc. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, grilled meats, pepper and iodine. Complex and to me, the most mature Saxum wine of the group. Still young but layered fruits and meaty elements. Long finish. 50+4+13+18+8=93

2003 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock Syrah
15.7% Alc. 88% Syrah, 8% Grenache, 4% Mourvèdre. Purple in color, opaque with some ruby at the rim. The nose has some funk to it. Also lots of black raspberries, gamey meat and leather. Full bodied. On the palate, sweet black fruit. The sweetest wine on the table made me think it was the 03. Whether this was ripe fruit or RS was up for discussion. Plenty of black and red raspberry fruit. The group chose this as the #2 WOTN. For me, it was hedonistic but not as interesting as others. 50+4+13+17+8=92

2005 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock
16.1% No longer carrying Syrah in the title, this was 93% Syrah and 7% Grenache. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is tight but classic. Black raspberries, grilled meats, black pepper and some bacon notes. Full bodied. Great juicy texture. On the palate, this has black raspberries with dark chocolate notes and leather. A lot of tight layering here, this is very young. Easy to drink now, but needs a few years. Long finish. 50+4+13+18+8=94

2001 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock Syrah
15.6% Alc. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with a slight funk to it. Black raspberries, grilled meats and bacon. This has a lush texture. Lots of vibrant fruit. Still showing quite youthfully. Black raspberries and some peppery notes. Long finish. Sensational bottle. 50+5+14+19+8=96

1999 Linne Calodo James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock
14.8% Alc. 90% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre. Purple in color with some ruby at the rim. The nose on this seemed a bit off. My wife described it as chilled 2-day old broccoli. I am not sure I got that, but it did seem to have some age on it. On the palate, this seemed to be past peak and while still very pleasant lacked the verve of the other wines. It was fun to include but easy to pick out. That said, it got two votes for WOTN. 50+4+12+16+6=88

2004 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock Syrah
15.8% Alc. 85% Syrah, 12% Grenache and 3% Mourvèdre. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose had black and red raspberries, grilled meats and a bit of cocoa. On the palate, there was spritz. Obviously the 2004. I found it blew off with some vigorous swirling. I also shook the bottle (the Mollydooker Shake®) and released a lot of CO2. There was still a good amount of brett on this wine. Now I love brett and found it wonderful, but I knew this was going to be problematic for some. We got into a discussion as to the brett yeast could be the same culprit in the spritz. Our enologists at the table were inclined to believe that there was too much CO2 to be trapped and that some secondary fermentation was happening. I always thought there had to be cabbage odors (which this did not have) for that. Their opinion was that it depended on what organism was creating the secondary fermentation. Interesting. In any event. Besides the barnyard notes, there was black raspberries, and a dark chocolate note on the palate. Long finish. This was my WOTN (after the spritz blew off) but the groups 2nd last (to the Linne Calodo). 50+5+15+19+8=97

We finished off the night with Jane’s Flourless Chocolate Chambord Cake and a few of beers.

Founders Blushing Monk
Great raspberry flavors. Easy to drink. 12.3% Great Beer. A+

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence
Bitter chocolate notes that were quite good. One of my favorite beers for a group. A

Souther Tier Crème Brulee Imperial Stout
A little goes along way. This is a very sweet desert beer. Not in the category of the other two. B+

Thanks for the notes Loren,
We had a 00-04 Bone Rock vertical at an offline in Dec. You’re notes jive completely with my experience that night as well. The 04 was my favorite (showing no spritz or signs of brett), followed by the 00.

Loren,

Thanks for the great notes! It looks like our impressions of the 2000 and the 2004 are very similar.

• 2004 Saxum Syrah Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (3/21/2009)
  Decanted one hour, drank over the next 4. Dark fruit, bacon fat and smoke on the nose. Wonderful viscosity. Rich, dense, smoky, meaty. Roasted pig on a spit liquified. Tremendous minerality and acidity, can really taste the rocky influence. Just wonderful.
• 2000 Saxum Syrah Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (11/27/2008)
  Similar experience to my last note, so much happening with this wine that it is difficult to describe all of the elements. Aromatics burst out of your glass and caress your nose, hinting at the joy that awaits. Your mouth feels as if it were coated in a lining of savory softness intertwined with ribbons of spices, charcoal grilled meats and fruits, ripe and savory, earthy and delicious. The minute + finish is incredible. Enhanced our enjoyment of a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

I would strongly suggest that you hold at least one of each of the Saxum bottles that you have and let them age. If this wine is any indication of the evolution that these bottles can achieve, then we are all in for a treat!

Posted from CellarTracker

WOW! The ABV’s on those wines is just insane! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a claimed abv at 16.7% (even Tobin James), and it sounds like it showed really well. There’s got to be some huge fruit to cover up all that alcohol.

Wetrock, didn’t we have a Saxum at Fratellos some months back at one of Frank’s Offlines?

I was at Fratello’s when the Cabot’s were there. We had the mini-vert John is speaking of. My notes are ‘elsewhere’ but I remember the 2000 being excellent. One of them showed a bit towards the over ripe VA side but overall they were great. The 05 James Berry was damn nice also but is baby killing right now.

Nice notes Loren.

I had a Saxum about a year and half ago but can’t remember what it was I just know there was a lot of residual sugar in it and loads of VA. It went well with the brownies we had for dessert that night.

Anyways, I bought some of the 06’s (your probably wondering why based on my first experience) and I had one two weeks ago (broken stones). It was stunning! completely dry, no residual sugar with absolutely no heat despite the 16.5% (i think) alcohol level. A surprisingly delicious wine that I am happy to have more of

Did you think it was tight like the Bone Rock Loren wrote about? I have a few of the Broken Stones, and your note makes me want to crack one some time within the next five minutes. [heat.gif] Good idea?

It was definitely tight but still very balanced and very enjoyable.

You bring up a question i had about these wines though which is what will happen to them when they age and lose their baby fat? Will the high alcohol become prominent? I am not a Saxum pro, this was only the second bottle I have ever had so I would love to hear some opinions on this from others on how they age with all that alcohol… Based on Loren’s notes they will do well but I am a bit skeptical due to my perhaps irrational fear of the high alcohol content.

If you have multiple bottles I say try one (decant for sure) but caveat emptor: I like trying wines when they are young.