Readers seeking a seductive, sexy, open-knit, velvety-textured red should check out Justin Vineyard’s 2000 Syrah. A fruit bomb with lusciousness, sweetness, and no hard edges, it offers abundant quantities of red as well as black fruits, creamy oak, smoke, and earth. Enjoy this delicious 2000 over the next 3-4 years. Tel. (805) 238-6932

An interesting wine that showcases how well Syrah can do in so many places. It has much in common with the best Napa bottlings: rich, ripe flavors, smooth and distinguished tannins, and a long, mouthcoating finish that gets better as the wine warms up on the table. It is a little thin in flavor and too soft for aging, but a wine to watch.——S.H.(12/15/2003)—— 89