2016 James Berry Proprietary Red

One of the greatest GSM blends to ever come out of California is the 2016 James Berry Vineyard, which is 55% Grenache, 24% Mourvèdre, 13% Syrah, and 8% Counoise. This sensational wine reminds me of the 2016 Mon Aïeul from Pierre Usseglio with its awesome perfume of sweet blackberry and cassis fruits, smoke meats, exotic spice, licorice, and garrigue-like aromas and flavors. Deep, rich and layered on the palate, with a massive core of sweet fruit, this beauty builds with time in the glass and has incredible purity of fruit, a mix of richness and elegance that's hard to describe, sweet tannins, and a huge finish. It's every bit as impressive as the 2007 was on release. It needs a decant if drinking any time soon and should be at its best from 2020-2035. Hats off to Justin Smith for this incredible wine! I finished my note with “the greatest GSM blend from California, ever.” 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's wine world; this is one of them.

Brilliant ruby. An intensely perfumed, sharply delineated bouquet evokes ripe raspberry, blueberry, allspice, candied lavender and incense, and a zesty mineral overtone gains strength as the wine stretches out. Stains the palate with appealingly sweet red and blue fruit flavors that show impressive depth as well as vivacity, thanks to a spine of juicy acidity. The extremely long, floral-driven finish is given shape by fine-grained tannins that are quickly absorbed by the intense, concentrated fruit.