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2000 Foxen Bien Nacido Pinot Noir ($40) This is Pinot Noir on a sumptuous scale: smooth, elegant, with layers of ripe cherry and black fruit flavors.

2000 Steele Bien Nacido Chardonnay ($28) Steele's Chardonnay is made in a more restrained, pure-fruit style than many Bien Nacido Chardonnays—it's crisp and pure with delicate citrus and floral aromas.

1999 Ojai Vineyard Bien Nacido Syrah ($42) Reclusive winemaker Adam Tolmach (his fellow winemakers joke that they haven't seen him in years) was an early Bien Nacido believer. His Syrahs, concentrated and intense (even brooding), have been compared to the best of the Rhône.

2000 Tantara Evelyn Pinot Noir ($70) This big, ripe, intense wine, redolent of black currant and spice, made from a block of Bien Nacido grapes, is Tantara's star red.

2000 Lane Tanner Bien Nacido Pinot Noir ($28) Winemaker Lane Tanner likes to say this wine, her favorite, possesses "boyish charm." I don't know about the boyish part, but it's got charm to spare—not to mention lots of red and black plum fruit and a long mouthfilling finish.

2000 Testarossa Bien Nacido Chardonnay ($34) One of the most lauded Chardonnays in Santa Maria, this wine has lots of the vineyard's trademark exuberant tropical fruit—nicely framed (and restrained) by aging in French oak.

2000 Fetzer Bien Nacido Reserve Pinot Noir ($40) A smooth and polished Pinot that's a triumph for the Fetzer team, headed by Dennis Martin—who drives many miles each month from Fetzer's headquarters in Mendocino to the Santa Maria Valley.

2000 Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Bien Nacido Pinot Noir ($30) Partners Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini make a highly aromatic, delicate, vivacious Pinot with grapes from the vineyard's sought-after N and Q blocks.

2000 Jaffurs Bien Nacido Syrah ($32) Craig Jaffurs makes several Syrahs, but his Bien Nacido bottling may possess the most perfect synthesis of power and finesse— muscular tannins balanced by lots of lush dark fruit and spice.

2000 Au Bon Climat XX Anniversary Char-Donnay ($35) This Wine Has Much In Common With Its Producer, Jim Clendenen: Both Make You Pay Attention—In The Case Of The Wine, With Luxuriant Fruit And A Powerful Finish.