2020 Rocket Block James Berry Vineyard

While not overtly smoke-tinged, the 2020 Rocket Block James Berry Vineyard opens with a muted, inward nose that never quite lifts off the ground as it usually would. The palate is almost frustratingly delicious and sumptuous before transitioning to a finish tinged with gritty fruit framed by grainy tannins. While this, unfortunately, lacks the impressive power and elegance of its typical self, the effort here is to be commended, as the overall commanding nature of this site does show through despite the faults.

Just bottled, the 2020 Rocket Block checks in as 82% Grenache, 13% Counoise, and the rest Mataro. It shows the more challenging style of the 2020 vintage but is unquestionably a beautiful wine, offering smoky dark fruits, roasted herbs, cured meats and pepper. Full-bodied, straight, and focused, it has fine-grained tannins and outstanding length. It's clearly not at the same level as previous vintages and shows some smoky nuances on the nose, but stays clean, although narrower and more foursquare on the palate. It will evolve for over a decade. The 2020s from Saxum are solid wines, although there are subtle signs of smoke in a few of the wines, and in general, the wines are narrower and more focused than normal, yet still nicely concentrated. At a high level, I think these are good to outstanding wines that will offer pleasure. Clearly the 2021s are a step up, and this is another brilliant vintage for winemaker Justin Smith.