The 2004 Syrah Estate tastes like a lightweight French Crozes-Hermitage. Olive and cherry notes intermixed with disjointed acidity give the wine a tart feel in the mouth. Drink it over the next several years. Other wines tasted: 2006 Viognier, 2005 Roussanne.Tel. (805) 688-9339; Fax (805) 688-8796

The winery has held this wine back for more than four years before releasing it, with excellent results. However tannic it might have been, it’s now a softly lush, complex wine, even a dramatic one. Filled with blackberry, dark chocolate, tangerine zest, violet, anise, leather and tobacco flavors, it’s a big wine, but a completely satisfying one.——S.H.(4/1/2009)—— 92