2017 Saxum James Berry Vineyard

The 2017 James Berry Vineyard Red is made up of 55% Grenache, 29% Mataro, 13% Syrah and 3% Carignan. It was made with 13% whole cluster and aged 21 months in various vessels including 48% new oak and 28% foudres. Medium to deep ruby, it has bombastic raspberry, cranberry, strawberry and pomegranate candy aromas with pure notes of garrigue, dried roses, orange oil, potpourri and an undercurrent of amaro character. The intense, medium to full-bodied palate explodes with nuanced flavor layers in a finely grained frame, with seamless freshness on the long, super perfumed finish. Wow! It's hard to choose a favorite between the 2016 and 2017 vintages—they're both spectacular. 1,250 cases produced.

I was able to taste the 2017 James Berry Vineyard beside the perfect 2016 and there’s not much difference between these two sensational wines. The 2017 reveals a deep ruby color as well as more straight, focused, yet beautifully concentrated style that reveals gorgeous black raspberry and blackberry fruits interwoven with pepper, spring flowers, earth, and incense. Pure, full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and an incredible wine any way you look at it, give bottles 2-3 years and it’s going to evolve effortlessly for 15-20 years. Saxum’s Justin Smith has hit a home run with these recent vintages, and his 2015s, 2016s, 2017s, and 2018s all have singular styles, with the quality remaining sky-high. The 2018s show the slightly more pure, fresh, yet concentrated style of the vintage nicely. While not yet bottled, these will offer pleasure in their youth as well as benefit from short term cellaring. The 2017s are more pretty, perfumed wines that don’t quite have the density of the 2016s yet certainly don’t lack for fruit. Most are already drinking nicely today, yet as with all great wines, they’re going to evolve gracefully. Lastly, the 2016s are some of the greatest wines I’ve tasted from this estate, and they offer massive, layered, yet impeccably balanced profiles that are a joy to drink today; they’ll also be a joy to drink in 10-15 years as well. As I’ve written more than once, there are few mailing lists worth being one, but without a doubt, this is one of them.