The 2002 Syrah James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock, which had been bottled several weeks before my tasting, was not displaying any ill effects from its recent bottling. More primordial (of course, it’s a year younger), it exhibits a saturated plum/purple color along with a spectacular nose of blackberries, licorice, kirsch, and flinty/crushed stones. Full-bodied, with a spectacular texture as well as a massive finish, it possesses a slightly later harvest sur-maturite character than its siblings. A blend of 88% Syrah and 12% Grenache, it spent 18 months in French oak, was never racked, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is the best recent trilogy I’ve experienced since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings!An emerging superstar, Justin Smith, who “focuses exclusively on Syrah from the windswept hills of west Paso Robles,” is undoubtedly a talented winemaker. These wines’ richness, texture, and compelling aromatics have more in common with his southern neighbor, Sine Qua Non, than just about anything produced in the Paso Robles area. These wines rock ... and that’s putting it mildly!Tel. (805) 227-4662

This is awesome Syrah. It starts with wonderfully rich and inviting aromas of Provencal herbs, such as thyme, bay leaf and rosemary, and a note of lavender. The fruit is all cherries and blackberries, sweet and pure, seasoned with smoky oak. Fresh in acids, backed with firm but soft and complex tannins, this is a dramatic and beautiful wine. What a long, rich finish. ——S.H.(12/31/2004)—— 95

Similar to Saxum’s Broken Stones Syrah, but more refined and, paradoxically, more intense. The sweet core of cherry, cola, mocha and oak finishes spicy and very long. This wine is as plush and smooth as they get, one of the best in the state.——S.H.(12/1/2004)—— 93