The 2005 Rocket Block is another exceptional offering that represents Saxum’s version of a Paso Robles Chateauneuf du Pape. As its name suggests, it explodes from the glass offering intense black raspberry and blacker fruit scents interwoven with notions of smoke, forest floor, and flowers. Full-bodied and unctuously-textured, with considerable tannin, acidity, and that exquisite minerality that comes from these soils, it is a super-rich, sensationally profound red that should drink beautifully for 12-15+ years. The bottled 2005s are all performing well.One of the superstar, artisinal winemaking operations in Paso Robles is Heather and Justin Smith’s Saxum Vineyard. The Smiths are also the proprietors of the James Berry Vineyard, an exceptional hillside site planted in pure white limestone, a site that provides extraordinary richness, minerality, precision, and individuality. Like his colleague to the south, Manfred Krankl, Justin Smith has been moving from strength to strength, building more elegance and nuances into his wines without sacrificing their intrinsic intensity, purity, and richness. As for the 2006s, these wines are scheduled to be bottled slightly later than usual as Justin Smith is another producer who is instituting longer cask and pungeon agings. The 2007s tasted suggest this may be one of the finest vintages Saxum has yet produced. The wines are already spectacular, and will no doubt gain in weight, texture, and nuances over the next year.Tel. (805) 610-0363; Fax (805) 238-2267

It’s necessary to talk about alcohol levels with Saxum’s wines, because they define the style. With this one, it’s 16.4%, higher than almost any commercially-released red table wine in California. That’s almost Port. It’s vast in chocolate, raspberry puree, cherry jam, anisette and cassis flavors. That makes it sound sweet, but it’s dry and smoothly tannic. Saxum fans will exult. Others may find the wine problematic.——S.H.(5/1/2008)—— 90