Smoked Spicy Fruit.

If you're at Trader Joe's or New Leaf and you see the Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard's 2000 Syrah, get a bottle. You won't regret it.

Made from Livermore Valley grapes, this isn't one of the more popular or well-known products of SCMV. They seem to prefer promoting their wines made from grapes grown within our Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, and I can't blame them, but the 2000 Livermore Valley Syrah is a fantastic wine nonetheless.

There's smoke and spice — pepper, anise — followed by jam-like blackberry and raspberry flavors.

And I'm certainly no expert, but it seems to me this wine could cellar for at least five more years and just keep getting better and better.

Warning: this wine throws sediment.