Saxum, Broken Stones Syrah, Paso Robles

Rich and delicious, with enough acidity to keep it (somewhat) contained. Distinctly an American Rhone blend in terms of ripeness and weight. Lovely, if that style is your thing.

2012 vintage

They have great wines, and this is one of their better....

2012 vintage

This time I gave the wine a two-hour decant, which helped a lot. Pleasant wine with notes of blueberry and pepper. The high ABV (15.6%) is relatively well hidden but can be felt nonetheless.

2012 vintage

Boysenberry nose, decent tannic structure. Rich and Lucious.

2012 vintage

The last five reviews, going back to 2021, go from 94-97. All seem right. I Sort of split the middle. Everything you could want in a Paso wine, and really and wine - unless you want something light and devoid of fruit.

2008 vintage

Drinking very well and has a few years of life left. Not the most complex but huge fruit and very enjoyable overall

2012 vintage

Beautiful as expected

2008 vintage

Had this as a pop and pour from a magnum. This was drinking beautifully, and was a crowd favorite. Still plenty of red and black fruit, with smooth tannins, and a long finish. The Saxums that are more heavily Syrah based are usually my favorites, and this was no exception. Sadly, it is my last bottle of the 2012. At least from the magnum, it would have had many more good years left.

2012 vintage

Cork softer than expected, not quite as soft as 2005 Merus cab recently opened, but similar. No infiltration, cork end deep dark purple, almost black, and faint smell of what? Mold? Foot? Yeesh. Strong sting of alcohol but also deep and thick flavor. Not a shy wine. Lightness at rim of glass but dark as night after. Reticent and needs air. I caution that users realize this is almost 16% alcohol. One glass will affect you.

2012 vintage

From a lot of 6 bottles bought at an auction. Opened 3 hours before serving and drunk over 2 hours with dinner. The last glasses were the best. For me the jury's out on this one. Yes, this is good juice but it lacks complexity and has no wow factor that I associate with a very good wine. Matter of taste.

2012 vintage

Drinking very well. Dark fruit, some secondary notes, resolving but present sweet tannins, oak and smoke. Long finish.

2012 vintage

The wine looks purple colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like burnt, toast, espresso, black pepper, red currant, black currant (cassis) and plum. It tastes like violet, black pepper, stoniness, dust and forest floor. The body is medium/full. The wine has round texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity.

2012 vintage

Popped and poured. This is a very dark-red trending to purple wine. On the nose, I get blackberry, blueberry, bramble, and some odd reductive-like scents. In the mouth, this is generally full and rich with salty offsetting notes. The finish is medium length and includes some more fruit elements. Overall, I found this to be an unexciting and somewhat muted Saxum. Perhaps there was some very slight TCA or some other issue with this particular bottle, but this was not …

2012 vintage

An outstanding wine, sadly my last bottle. Decanted 2 hours. Highly concentrated dark fruit with notes of black raspberry, plum, cassis, glycerin. Tannins are well structured and this wine has an opulent, velvety mouthfeel with long finish. Paired with grilled baby back ribs.

2012 vintage

Have not tried the vintage of this wine in almost a year. I had given this bottle to my good friend Dave for Fathers Day. Last night his sister in law opened it by accident. I stopped by his house for dessert and saw it open on the table. Well it definitely went with the apple spice cake. Anyway the palate is swirling flavors of berries, cherry, plums, figs, tobacco, dried leaves and spices. The finish just goes on and …

2012 vintage

This is an absolute stunner. It needed a long decant. However, after about five hours, the tannins soften perfectly. Excellent balance. An intriguing mix of dark berries and earthiness. Like a stroll through the forest.

2012 vintage

One of the best Saxums. Drinking really well.

2012 vintage

Nicely lifted nose of ripe berry, licorice and sugar beet, flavors are ripe but well integrated with a nice tannic, acidic bite. Cranberry, smoke, leather, citrus peel. One of the best Saxums I’ve had.

2012 vintage

Not interesting

2012 vintage

Better than last bottle three years ago. This is fully integrated—any remaining heat is gone. Dark berries and spice, lingers in mid-palate and finish. Probably good for a few more years at this level.

2012 vintage

WIML94 Tasted non blind. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of potpourri, talc, currants, plums, cocoa powder and a hint of smoke. Flavors of black berries, black cherries, dark plums and black currants. Medium acidity, medium tannin, full bodied. Drink over the short term. Ready to go.

2008 vintage

Decanted for 4+ hours. The sommelier was blown away. So were we. Dark, deep purple. The nose was magical right from the start. No fade at all after 3 more hours. Blackberry, blueberry, dark cherry, chocolate, and licorice. Looooonnnnggg finish. So glad we still have more in the cellar.

2008 vintage

Rich dark fruit with blueberry, blackberry, spice and gobs of chocolate

2008 vintage

From magnum. Just stellar. Smokey and still quite youthful with nice long finish. Maybe the best showing yet for this wine! Sadly my last one.

2012 vintage

Similar to the bottle I had 4 months ago and it is just an amazing bottle of wine. Opened 6 hours prior to drinking. The nose is dark berries with hints of chocolate. The palate is comprised of swirling flavors of dark berries, figs, tobacco, tree bark and chocolate. The finish goes on and on and on and on.

2012 vintage

Blueberry, blackberry, raspberry with chocolate and minerality

2012 vintage

Dark crimson in color with some bricking at the edge of the glass. 15.6% ABV. 79% Syrah, 7% Petite Sirah, 7% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre and 2% Roussanne. Pretty nose of blue fruits, eucalyptus and flowers. Medium to full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Silky and rich with a sense of restraint. Blueberry, raspberry liqueur, barbecued meats and pepper on the palate. Exceptional length on the finish. This Broken Stones was less about flamboyance and more about elegance. Stunning wine. I …

2012 vintage

Well our club had its first BBQ last night and Saxum and BBQ are a perfect match in my eyes. Also we were surprised by my wife's sister and brother in law who were here from Los Angeles. This is just an amazing bottle of wine. Opened 6 hours prior to drinking. The nose is dark berries with hints of chocolate. The palate is comprised of swirling flavors of dark berries, figs, tobacco, tree bark and chocolate. The finish goes …

2012 vintage

Inky dark. Tar, a little smokey. Chewy. Still lots of life on this

2012 vintage

Brilliant bright and fresh without signs of age, this is ripe with dark berry fruit, ample acid and tannin. Another lovely wine

2012 vintage

Deep dark fruit aromas and flavors, blackberries. Very concentrated, big but balanced, still with moderate tannin. Drinkable, but still seems very young, may benefit from further time. Ric

2008 vintage

Unfortunately somewhat mislead by recent notes. I decanted this and proceeded to consume most of this over an hour w friends. I didn’t seem to have the fruit that I’d expect. Well, by hour 4, that last glass blossomed into a magnificent expression. This has years ahead of it.

2008 vintage

Another great bottle of Broken Stones. Aging gracefully. Probably at its peak but has several more years of life ahead.

2008 vintage

Dark rich fruit with lots of stewed blueberry and raspberry

2008 vintage

Short decant. We were going to go with a Chassagne Montrachet and an SQN Le Deux Grenouilles but it started raining hard just before we began to deep fry a turkey outside, which could have been bad. We turned dinner on its head and shifted to Beef with mushrooms, onions and peppers in a Thai peanut and coconut milk sauce and Spicy Thai Basil fried rice with black forbidden rice. That needed a wine with more stuffing and my son …

2008 vintage

94 points

2008 vintage

Not sure why I waited 13 years to have my first bottle of this, but either way, this wine was excellent. Maybe not the depth of the best Saxums, but the nose was out of this world, the mouthfeel luxurious, and the finish lingered. At times there seemed to be a light/red fruit sweetness to counterbalance the darker fruited notes. Great blend.

2008 vintage

What a great wine! 79% Syrah, 13% Grenache and 8% Mourvedre, with a whopping 15.6% ABV - after wondering why I felt as if I'd drunk 3/4 of the bottle I checked the alcohol - boy! packs a punch. This is undoubtedly a big, rich gorgeous wine, fruit forward but not overly extracted and maintaining balance, almost elegance, through racy acidity and firm ripe grippy tannins. Velvety and plush, Black and red fruit on the palate, along with a lovely …

2008 vintage

Virtual Single Blind Chards (Home) : Very dark red color. Decanted for 2.5 hours. Wines were poured into jars for transport about 4:30pm. Drank a glass double blind over 90 minutes starting at 8:30pm. I liked the nose substantially more than the palate. The nose is very complex and compelling with big arommatics, garrigue, herbs, dark fruit, more subtle roasted meat, tar and a blackberry liqueur. The palate is dense and showing its 15% alcohol, but I think it would …

2008 vintage

Very impressive balance in this wine showing a lot of fresh black cherry fruit. There is a hint of development with dirt and wet leaves but only slightly. The alcohol does start to seem a bit off balance in this wine and I would recommend drinking this sooner rather than saving it for a long time. It is in a very good spot right now!

2008 vintage

Very good and relatively restrained for Sarum Kids liked it

2008 vintage

absolutely delicious! now I will decant it!

2008 vintage

This wine has evolved in all areas. Smoother with less tannin, slightly less robust (a plus), no green notes. If one can say so, more refined. Still plenty of fruit and may be developing some secondary notes. Very enjoyable.

2008 vintage

Age, for better or worse has muted a bit of the exuberant fruit. Still full of black berry and black currant fruit. Lightly savory on finish- coffee, hoisin and charred meat notes. Wonderful now.

2008 vintage

Saxum Tasting (Zurich) : Comprehensive vertical tasting of several Saxum vineyards and a total of 24 wines. Most wines on a good to very good level in the 93 to 95 points range, just one on an exceptional (97+ points) level (James Berry Bone Rock 08). The consistency of the wine-making at Saxum is impressive but the tasting proofed to be rather a bit boring with less difference between the vineyards and vintages showing than expected and wished for. Heart …

2008 vintage

Grand Saxum Tasting (Gustav in Zurich) : Grand Saxum tasting over several vineyeards and vintages. 23 wines in total. What was remarkable is the consistancy in aromatics across vintages and partly also across vineyards. Big and powerful wines but not without elegance. As a vintage 2007 stood out as exceptional across all vineyards. Booker stood out as the most consistent on a high level while James Berry vineyards had the highest range, but was oustanding in some vintages. The top …

2008 vintage

This hasn't budged an inch since our last bottle at the tail end of 2015, and sadly, this is our last bottle. If you have any, hide it in your cellar for at least five more years.

2008 vintage

Aerated with a Vinturi and decanted for one hour. Nose of blackberry, black plum, smoked meat, dried herbs with a hint of vanilla bean. Black fruit, licorice, spice and fine tannins on the palate. Long, layered finish with good depth. Elegant and balanced. Full bodied. Served with grilled rack of lamb and garlic herb butter.

2008 vintage

Purple, opaque. Deep dark fruit aromas and flavors, blackberries. Very concentrated, big but balanced, still with moderate tannin. Drinkable, but still seems very young, may benefit from further time. Ric

2008 vintage

tasted from reidel som rhone glasses.i should have listened to previous notes and decanted but i did not. after an hour in glass. dark opaque black cherry color in fact, the overwhelming part of this wine was that. a nose of dark cherry, stewed plum, some road tar...perhaps some menthol, some coffee. the mouth feel, a little hot, as i said, should have decanted, a long 45-60 second finish of cherry-chocolate-coffee

2008 vintage

Are you sure?

Saxum, Broken Stones Syrah, Paso Robles

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews