2011 Heart Stone Vineyard

The 2011 Heart Stone Vineyard is a blend of 58% Syrah, 37% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre that was brought up in mostly concrete, with 20% in puncheons. Showing beautifully from barrel, it didn’t disappoint from bottle and has a perfumed, elegant feel to its purple fruits, lavender, violets, white pepper and underbrush-like aromas and flavors. The whole cluster inclusion shows here, yet it has fantastic purity, fine tannin and integrated acidity. Give it another year in the cellar and enjoy bottles through 2025. This was another great visit with Justin Smith, and he continues to tweak and experiment with varying degrees of whole cluster and concrete, puncheon and barrel aging regimes. Looking at his 2011s, I was able to taste all of these from bottles in Colorado, and they’ve closed down substantially since I reviewed them from barrel. In most cases, these took a day or more to fully unwind, and the style here is much more Rhone-like, with spice, pepper and meaty aromatics paired with focused, firm palate profiles. These are gorgeous wine that won’t start to show their full potential for another 3-4 years. The 2012s are just as good, if not better, yet are surprisingly tannic and structured. Given the up-front nature of the vintage, I was surprised by the tannin profile and more reserved style in most of the wines. Nevertheless, the concentration level here is on par with, if not slightly greater than, the 2011s, and they show the fabulous purity and focus of the vintage. Both of these vintages will need short-term cellaring. My favorite of the three vintages reviewed here, the 2013s offer thrilling density of fruit, massive concentration, and sound underlying structure that keeps the wines focused and balanced. I think short-term cellaring will be helpful here as well, but I wouldn’t be afraid to crack a bottle or two on release either. Despite these vintage differences, as I hope the reviews and scores show, these are incredible wines that make the most of this special terroir. Truthfully, there are few mailing lists out there worth being on, but without a doubt, this is one of them. Tel. (805) 610-0363; www.saxumvineyards.com

(58% syrah, 37% grenache and 5% mourvedre; no new oak and 14.8% alcohol, which is quite low by Saxum standards): Opaque purple. Highly perfumed aromas of dark fruit preserves, violet, olive tapenade and cracked pepper, with an exotic blood orange nuance emerging with aeration. Weighty but surprisingly lithe on the palate, offering sweet blueberry and mulberry flavors and strong floral and spicecake accents. Closes spicy and long, with supple tannins making a late appearance and adding gentle grip.

The 2011 Heart Stone is delicious. A wine that literally bristles on the palate with energy, the 2011 is fresh, vibrant and beautifully articulated from start to finish. Savory herbs, licorice, mint and smoke are all layered into the vibrant, nuanced finish. The use of 60% stems gives the wine gorgeous aromatic lift and palate presence. This is a fabulous showing from Justin and Heather Smith. The 2011 is 58% Syrah, 37% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre done mostly in concrete (80%) with a dash of French oak.