2015 Saxum Paderewski Vineyard

Moving to the 2015 reds, all of which were tasted from bottle, the 2015 Paderewski comes from a terrific site off of Peach Canyon Road and is 46% Mourvèdre, 30% Syrah, 14% Petite Sirah, and the rest Zinfandel. This is a warmer site, and this deep purple-hued effort has loads of spicy blueberry and blackberry fruit, notes of ground pepper and garrigue, full body, incredible purity of fruit, and sweet, sweet tannins. As with most 2015s, it’s slightly closed and has some upside with short-term cellaring. This report looks mostly at the 2016s from undeniable superstar winemaker, Justin Smith. Smith is one of the pioneers of the Paso Robles wine scene yet remains as humble and accessible as ever. Speaking about the 2016s, these are the strongest set of releases since the 2007s, and I suspect at maturity these wines will be even better. They have a rare sense of depth and richness paired with purity and precision, as well as singular characters, and these truly are special wines. The 2016 James Berry is quite possibly the greatest wine ever produced from the region and is a legendary wine in the making. Do whatever you can to latch onto a few bottles of this magical elixir. The majority of the 2016s will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age, but good luck keeping your hands off of them. The 2017s are similarly styled, yet they have slightly more elegance and approachability compared to the denser, richer 2016s. I suspect these will continue to put on weight as well with additional time in barrel. As I’ve said in the past, there are few mailing lists worth staying on in today wine world; this is one of them.