Absolutely Amazing! Let it open for 3-5 hours and it simply explodes with mint, mocha, coco, leather, smoked meat and has a monster finish with hints of basil and white tea.

The Bone Rock block of Saxum’s James Berry estate vineyard gets its name from the fossilized whale bones uncovered at the site while trying to break through the rocky soil. This was the first James Berry block planted and still possesses 30-years+ head-trained Syrah vines. The 2019 James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock is a blend of 63% Syrah, 16% Mataro, 12% Grenache, 7% Graciano, and 2% Roussanne (co-fermented). The fermentation included “a good amount of whole cluster and stems,” according to winemaker/owner Justin Smith. It was aged for 33 months in hogsheads, 70% new hogsheads. Deep garnet-purple in color, it skips out of the glass with youthful, exuberant blueberry pie, blackberry preserves, and Morello cherries notes, followed by wafts of licorice, red roses, Sichuan pepper, and garrigue. The super-concentrated, super-intense palate is jam-packed with densely laden black and blue fruit flavors, supported by perfectly ripe, firm, layered tannins and fantastic tension, finishing very long, lifted, and perfumed. A masterpiece. 563 bottle cases and 55 cases of magnums were made. James Berry is the Smith family’s estate vineyard. Located in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles (just southwest of the town), this is a complex site consisting of steep slopes representing a variety of altitudes and aspects. The clay-loam topsoil sits over an ancient limestone-rich seabed that includes fossilized shells.

The 2018 Bone Rock (63% Syrah, 16% Mourvèdre, 12% Grenache, and the rest Graciano) is still resting in barrel, but it certainly looks to be in line, quality wise, with the other 2018s here. Concentrated, full-bodied, and just a massive wine, it has beautiful darker berry fruits as well as some spice and violet notes, a backward, inward, reserved style, ripe tannins, and a great finish.

Dark violet. An assertively perfumed bouquet evokes ripe cherry, dark berry preserves, incense and exotic spices, and a peony topnote builds as the wine opens up. Palate-staining, alluringly sweet Chambord, cherry liqueur, vanilla, floral pastille and spicecake flavors deliver a compelling blend of depth and energy. Smooth, even tannins add shape an extremely long, spicy finish that leaves sappy blue fruit, floral and smoky mineral notes behind.

From the oldest block of Syrah at James Berry vineyard, the 2018 Bone Rock is primary Syrah, blended with 16% Mataro, 12% Grenache, 7% Graciano and 2% Roussanne. Its roasted plum and wild berry fruit is accented with tones of graphite, aniseed, bitters and potpourri. The full-bodied palate has an abundance of grainy tannins, rounded freshness and loads of floral perfume on the extended finish. It has the intensity and structure to have a long life in bottle.