Scheduled for bottling in June, the 2016 Heart Stone Vineyard offers up a pretty bouquet of dried flowers and wild berries, framed by incipient savory bass notes. On the palate, it's full-bodied, fine-grained and elegant, with bright, crunchy fruit flavors, excellent concentration and a long, perfumed finish. This is the only wine in the Saxum cellar that comes from the Adelaida District on the western side of Paso Robles. The 2016 is a blend of 51% Grenache, 27% Syrah, 13% Mataro, 6% Petite Sirah and 3% Touriga Nacional. It's being matured in 37% new puncheons, 53% large amphorae and the balance in used wood.

The 2016 Heartstone is another sensational wine from this vintage, and it's also one of the more upfront and approachable in the lineup from Smith. Based on 51% Grenache, 27% Syrah, 13% Mataro, and the rest Petite Sirah and Touriga Nacional, it offers a complex bouquet of black raspberries, Christmas spice, herbes de Provence, and blood orange. Beautifully textured, seamless, and silky, this beauty doesn't put a foot wrong, has no hard edges, and is just a glorious drink. While it's already showing beautifully, it's going to evolve nicely for 10-15 years.

A distinctive, eclectic style, offering a potpourri of aromas and flavors, from potent blackberry and licorice to fruitcake spices, black olive and crushed stone. Builds tension toward broad-shouldered tannins. Syrah, Grenache, Mataro, Petite Sirah and Touriga Nacional. Drink now through 2026. 250 cases made.