2011 Broken Stones

Proprietor Justin Smith has done a magnificent job with his 2011s. Now that the wines are in bottle, they are every bit as impressive as they were from barrel. Readers who can still find the 2011s should not hesitate, as they are magnificent. The 2012s are pretty, but also quite subdued. Perhaps I caught the wines at an awkward stage, as only three of the 2012s have been bottled, but I think its more than that. Readers expecting a set of bombastic 2012s from Saxum are going to be disappointed. Instead, the wines are relatively medium in body, supple but also quite expressive. It is impossible not to notice the more restrained style in many of the 2012s. Smith was among the growers who remarked that the 2012s were much more subdued from the outset than expected based on the quality of the harvest, but also added that the wines might flesh out more in aging. Based on what I tasted in Paso and across the Central Coast, the Saxum 2012s are typical of the year. The wines are soft and accessible, but I don't get that sense of visceral thrill that is the signature of the very best wines that have come off the property. Every region has its leaders. Justin Smith has been at the forefront in Paso for a number of years. In addition to his own vineyards and wines, first at Linne Calodo and now at Saxum, Smith has played a pivotal role in developing Booker, Terry Hoage, Epoch and other properties in the area. Smith has also taken some of Paso's younger winemakers under his wing. Even with all of the accolades he has rightly received, Justin Smith remains one of the most down-to-earth, easygoing people you will ever meet, and that is as important an achievement as anything else.

Like his colleagues up and down the Central Coast, Justin Smith says that 2011 "is ultimately about brightness and lower alcohols," adding that he also finds "chalky, fine tannins and, especially, spiciness in the wines."The '11s follow on the heels of similarly styled wines from 2010, a for-the-moment regional trend that he personally applauds.He pointed out the same fact that I've lately been hearing more and more in California, and not just in the Central Coast:getting ripeness shouldn't be the concern."Getting that ripe fruit in balance with natural acidity is the goal.We can take flavor pretty much for granted."Smith is extremely pleased with the results he's getting from his concrete fermenters and he is increasing his reliance on them as the vintages go by.The same goes for large-format wooden casks, "which let us age the wine more slowly and get finer tannins, plus the obvious bump in complexity."Mourvedre always gets a lot of attention at Saxum (as at most of the other top producers here) as it "helps to soften the acidity and lower the alcohol of grenache-heavy wines, which can get high in both cases around here."When I visited in October, a new cave, with tunnels, was being dug out at the base of the Smith family's hilltop property:it should be ready for the 2014 harvest.

Justin Smith is admirably frank when he states that overly big wines are hard to drink every day. Over the last few years, Smith has given greater emphasis to cement and moved away from standard size French oak barriques in favor of puncheons, subtle but meaningful changes made in the search for greater complexity. Smith harvests fruit that is so rich it really needs next to nothing in the cellar. In my view, things are in such a state of evolution at Saxum, it is pretty obvious we still haven't seen the best wines Justin Smith is capable of. Even with all of his success, Smith continues to push forward. And that is a rare quality shared only by a small handful of elite winemakers in the world. The 2011 harvest started in October and lasted well into November, very late by any measure. Overall, alcohol levels are down about 1% across the board relative to the norm. In addition to these wines. I also tasted a number of 2012 component wines from barrel. Although still very much unfinished, the wines I tasted were drop-dead gorgeous. Readers who want to learn more about Saxum might enjoy seeing this interview with Justin Smith shot in June 2012, as well as my tasting of the estate's 2010s.

I have been looking forward to tasting the Saxum 2010s since I saw several component wines from barrel last year. Justin and Heather Smith, along with Eric Jensen at Booker, Matt Trevisan and Linne- Calodo, Cris Cherry at Villa Creek and a handful of other growers, represent the cutting edge of the adventurous, pioneering spirit that is the essence of Paso Robles, and also in many ways, the heart of what makes the United States a great country. Take it from someone who spends a lot of time in Europe every year, this level of ambition is rare in the world. Saxum fans will be thrilled to learn that with the 2010 vintage Justin and Heather Smith have introduced a new wine to their lineup, the Syrah-based Terry Hoage Vineyard. For the last few years, Hoage fruit has found its way into the Bone Rock, but 2010 is the first year the Smiths had enough fruit to warrant a separate bottling. Justin Smith describes 2010 as the coldest year he had ever seen, until 2011. Although 2010 was a cold year, Smith says he still got the ripeness levels he looks for, it just took a lot more time because the growing season turned out to be very long. In 2011, however, ripeness levels never reached the typical range here, and consequently the wines are all about 1% lower in alcohol. The 2010 vintage also signals a bit of a stylistic shift at Saxum. Concrete tanks were first introduced with the 2009 vintage, but in 2010 about 50% of the fruit was fermented in concrete, while the Grenache for the James Berry Vineyard bottling was vinified and aged partly in concrete. In 2011, Smith added one more concrete tank, for the Heart Stone, the first Saxum wine to be vinified and aged exclusively in concrete. The 2010 Terry Hoage, Paderewski and James Berry were bottled in late May 2012, while the remainder of the wines were scheduled to be bottled in August 2012. For more on Saxum, readers may want to take a look at my video interview with Justin Smith on our website. Once all of the 2010s are in bottle I will re taste the wines and post an update on our site.