The Wine Advocate: 94
The final vintage of this staple in the Saxum roster, the 2023 Paderewski Vineyard opens with a distinctly floral bouquet, with its Viognier component coming forward immediately and lifting its otherwise juicy, black and purple fruit notes. The palate is plush and succulent before moving into a long, subtle finish propelled by a blend of chalky tannins, mineral drive and a hint of charred oak. This is among the more approachable releases in the lineup and features the highest portion of stems from the 2023 vintage at 29%. It's a blend of 40% Syrah, 20% Mataro, 14% Graciano, 13% Zinfandel, 7% Tempranillo and 6% Viognier that aged for 22 months in a mix of 300-liter barriques, 600-liter puncheons and concrete amphora.
The 2023 vintage at Saxum produced a suite of wines that capture the power and intensity Justin Smith and his team consistently deliver, while adding an extra touch of elegance, effortlessness and aromatic lift. The wines result from a notably cool, extended and high-yielding growing season that avoided spring frost and late-summer heat-wave problems, leading to wines that highlight clarity and cohesion while walking the line between youthful accessibility and age-worthiness. The vintage yielded around 11,000 cases, a significant increase from the usual 8,000, filling all available tanks during harvest due to the condensed picking window. This resulted in lower percentages of whole-cluster fermentation due to limited tank space, which further emphasizes the seamless, well-integrated character of the vintage.
This harvest marks the final release of the Paderewski, HeartStone and 4Hearts bottlings as Saxum moves toward focusing solely on estate-grown fruit. A reorganization is also happening at the James Berry site, which will lead to the replacement of the Hexe bottling—historically made with purchased G2 fruit along with that of the Hexe block—with one composed solely of the original 1980s plantings at Hexe. This shift will form a trio of block-designated wines, alongside the Rocket and Bone Rock bottlings, reflecting the three hills that make up the vineyard. The vintage also sees the return of Gratius, last made in 2017, which is produced in abundant-crop years and given away to long-standing customers.
Due to the extended and staggered élevage regimes from bottling to bottling, also included here are the late-released 2022 block designates, which highlight Saxum's rare ability to produce intense, bold and high-octane wines that remain in equilibrium. The Rocket Block bottling was a standout here, clearly demonstrating the balance, complexity and energy that Grenache's co-fermentation with Mataro brings from this site. Also from 2022, and only in its second release, the Cayucos Ridge Syrah from the San Luis Obispo Coast is a fascinating outlier within the lineup, combining savory, meaty aromatics with a rich, delectable texture—a combination that is often difficult to experience in California Syrah. Lastly, the superb 2021 Somnus is nearly confounding in its melding of immense body, concentration and punch while retaining an equal measure of nuance and pedigree.
