2013 Rocket Block James Berry Vineyard

Justin Smith has just begun settling into his new, expansive cellar, a series on connected tunnels burrowed out of the hill beneath his old winery and home that is equipped with a variety of concrete and wooden vats and barrels of varying sizes. Smith told me that he’s now able to adapt his winemaking to whatever conditions nature hands him. Unsurprisingly, this was one of the finest sets of wines that I tasted during my trip this summer. A look through barrels and tanks of Smith’s soon-to-be bottled 2014s and infant 2015s indicates that Saxum’s winning streak shows no sign of letting up. Too bad that there simply won’t be much wine to go around. Incidentally, while these will never be inexpensive wines, I find that prices are extremely fair given the sheer quality of the wines and the fact that they are among California’s most sought-after bottlings.