This dense, round, full-bodied red from a quiet appellation offers smoked plum and dark cherry flavors, with integrated oak and tannin.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley) is a dark, powerful wine. Inky blue and purplish fruits, smoke, licorice and violets are pushed forward. This is a relatively soft, plush style for Knights Valley, with fewer of the mineral/savory notes often found here. In exchange, the 2013 will drink with minimal cellaring.

Plump and rich without being weighty, with well-defined plum, cherry, currant and blackberry flavors, all evenly dispersed. Ends with supple, graceful tannins and an echo of oak and licorice.

This wine is a steal for its quality—well-rounded, expressive and complemented with additions of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot. Cherry and vanilla flavors predominate, accented with cedar and tobacco, the texture remaining soft and smooth.

Made by Greg Brewer and reminding me of a terrific St. Joseph, the 2016 Syrah Santa Barbara County has vibrant notes of red and black fruits, lots of pepper, hints of tapenade, and even a kiss of bacon fat. It's elegant, medium-bodied, has high yet integrated acidity and a great finish. Readers looking for a more traditional, classic Syrah from California that has some Old World charm should check this out.

Concentrated and brawny, with almost viscous flavors of chocolate, dried fruit and smoke that linger on the thick finish…Tasted twice, consistent notes.

Edmeades has made some great single-vineyard Zinfandels from Mendocino over the years, but this Petit Sirah delivers everything I love about Petit Sirah -- it's concentrated, brawny, and almost viscious with flavors of chocolate, dried fruit and smoke that linger on its tannic finish. It's a bargain at the price.

Concentrated, brawny, with almost viscous flavors of chocolate, dried fruit & smoke lingering on the tannic finish.

Espresso, black walnut and black pepper flavors are bold and thick, with dense tannins framing the blackberry, plum and licorice flavors. Smoke, toast and spice accents linger on the finish.

Espresso, black walnut and black pepper flavors are bold and thick, with dense tannins framing the blackberry, plum and licorice flavors. Smoke, toast and spice accents linger on the finish.

The Folly presents as an old school California Zinfandel based field blend, likely containing Petite Sirah, Syrah among other varieties. There's something adding a bit of complexity here that's unusual in the style -- perhaps a bit of Merlot? But enough wine geek speak -- this is a juicy, cherry fruit driven wine with note of orange blossom and white pepper, a little tar and fall spice, good acidity and moderate tannins that will go great with summer grilling.

…tastes like a fabulous northern Rhone. Blackberry liqueur infused with smoke jumps from the glass of this stupendous Zinfandel. Explosive in the mouth, with huge extract levels, fruit, and glycerin, but no heaviness or heat, this is a full-throttle, opulently-textured, hedonistic offering to drink over the next 5-6 years.

Very ripe and a touch jammy, with spicy cherry, licorice, cedar, sage and wild berry turning smooth and polished.

An earthy, gamy, briery, bramble-like perfume jumps from the glass of this medium ruby-colored, luscious, decadently rich effort.

Both powerful and supple, with melt-in-your-mouth blackberry flavors accented by chocolate, cinnamon-type spice, and the merest whiff of vanilla this Zinfandel is made for any food enhanced by barbecue sauce or simply good grilled char flavor. It manages to be dense and rich but not heavy, and it will make Zin lovers purr with happiness.

Concentrated, bright and focused fruit flavors feel shaped by a moderate oak influence in this full-bodied and nicely structured wine. A good amount of tannin wraps the raspberry and blackberry flavors in a firm texture.

Marginally the biggest, boldest and best filled of the Edmeades Zin trio, this one from Perli Vineyards holds true to the winery's rather lavish ways with the grape, yet, for all of its ripeness, its considerable substance and weight, its dominant and continuous message is one of oak-sweetened blackberries. It is not without an uptick of heat at the finish, and it sports plenty of fairly grippy structural tannins that prescribe three or four years of cellaring, but, in the end, it is unwavering fruit that earns it the nod as the favored child of its family.

Vivid flavors and an unusually firm texture make this a bold, structured and noteworthy wine with good potential for mid-term aging. It is dry, has pure raspberry and blackberry on the palate, fine-grained tannins for grip and a lingering finish.

Juicy raspberry and cherry fruit; silky and bright with tangy acidity and long, fresh finish.

My favorite of this trio is the 2010 Zinfandel Perli Vineyards, from a high elevation site in the Mendocino Ridge AVA. Composed of 98% Zinfandel and 2% Merlot that was aged in 40% new oak, it reveals a deep ruby/purple color as well as a big, sweet bouquet of black raspberry fruit intermixed with incense, camphor and roasted herb characteristics. Spicy, rich and full-bodied, this gorgeous Zinfandel can be drunk now and over the next 3-4 years.

A rich, sumptuous perfume of blueberries, mountain flowers, and briery fruit is followed by perfume a focused, glycerin as well as fruit-filled Zinfandel that should drink well for 5-6 years.

Edmeades pioneered the Anderson Valley, one of California's northernmost AVAs in the mid-'60s. Another huge, dense and structured Mendocino Zin hitting 15.5 percent alcohol and loaded with tannin. Lifted spicy, almost peppery nose with leather, chocolate and ripe blackberry fruit.

Another stunning offering is Edmeades' 2001 Zinfandel Ciapusci Vineyard. A perfume of plums, figs, earth, black cherries, raspberries, smoke, dried herbs, spice box, and pine forest is followed by layered, fat, fleshy, full-bodied, in-your-face Zinfandel that manages to retain good freshness and vigor in spite of its weight and concentration.

The 2000 Zinfandel Eaglepoint Vineyard is a sensational effort. Its 16.4% alcohol is well-hidden by copious quantities of black raspberry and cherry fruit, and notions of spice, pepper, minerals, and smoke. Full-bodied and lush...

Another whopper from one of Van Williamson's favorite vineyards is the 2000 Zinfandel Piffero Vineyard. It possesses loads of berry fruit, good freshness and vibrancy, and a dense, full-bodied, monstrous personality. Long, deep, and appealing...