2017 Ledge James Berry Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Brilliant violet. Potent, sharply focused red and blue fruit preserve, exotic spice and floral oil scents pick up a bright mineral overtone as the wine opens up. Alluringly sweet and energetic on the palate, offering intense, sharply defined raspberry, boysenberry and bitter cherry flavors that slowly unfurl and become sweeter on the back half. Delivers an uncanny blend of richness and delicacy and finishes extremely long and spicy, with resonating blue fruit character and velvety tannins that come on steadily.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
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The 2017 James Berry Vineyard is a blend of 33% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 26% Mourvèdre and 11% Roussanne. Medium to deep ruby in the glass, it has pretty scents of raspberry tart, strawberry preserves, charcuterie, pepper and salami with notes of spiced blackberries, cranberry jelly and an earthy undercurrent. Medium to full-bodied, it’s silky and explodes with savory flavor layers, firmly grainy and very fresh, finishing long and perfumed.
The 2017 James Berry Vineyard is a complex, elegant blend of 35% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 26% Mourvèdre, and a whopping 11% Roussanne that was brought up in a new 500-liter barrels and a used 300-liter barrel. Sexy notes of candied cherries, plums, cracked black pepper, and bouquet garni all flow to a medium to full-bodied blend that has a silky, seamless texture, polished tannins, and a beautiful sense of purity and complexity paired with plenty of richness and depth. I continue to love the wines from the up and coming Mark Adams, who pulls from his estate Adams Ranch Vineyard as well as a handful of other top vineyards on the westside of Paso Robles. These are distintive, singular wines worth seeking out.