A partnership between Julia Jackson of Jackson Family Wines and Hélène Seillan, whose mentor is her father, Pierre Seillan of Vérité, this wine is lithe and complex, made from 100% Cabernet Franc, and shows plum and tangerine atop layered, pronounced acidity and a depth of weight that belies its lightness of being.

This is made from a majority Cabernet Sauvignon, with 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This makes for a softly layered tease of cinnamon, cedar and brush, with the tannins dry and grippy. Black licorice and violet dot the nose and palate.

One of Adam Lee's more affordable appellation blends, this delivers a lot of bang for the buck, with aromas of extracted strawberry, rich plum, sandalwood and a slate backbone. Soft red fruit starts the palate, then sharpens into cranberry, with lots of herbal spice and acidic sizzle throughout.

A serious and dense Zinfandel, with dark cherry fruit, peach and cream supported by spice and oak. Good energy despite a little heat, and a more robust tannic structure than expected.

Leaving finesse and nuance to others, but making a bold and deeply fruity statement instead, this ample wine trades heavily on ripeness and rich oak, but plenty of solid and slightly juicy black cherry fruit sits very comfortably at its heart and effortlessly stays the course even as youthful tannins emerge at the end. Three or four years of cellaring will provide it with marginally more polish, but its major message now is one of ready richness and amplitude, and we do not anticipate that its essential voice will be greatly changed with age.

Grown on an elevated bench above the Santa Maria River, next to Bien Nacido, this is rich, accessible and balanced. Its warm red-cherry flavor is soft at first but firms up in the end, the gravelly soils above the valley floor perhaps contributing the clean cherry-pit structure at the center of the wine.

The full, rich California chardonnay style is executed brilliantly in this Russian River Valley offering. Creamy-smooth and opulent with ripe tropical-and-peach fruit lavished with butterscotch and toasted nuts, disciplined by bright acidity. It's a pricy bottle, but, like an E-Class Mercedes, it comes luxury-loaded and precision-tuned.

Pushing in several directions, this is both rich and layered, with butterscotch, anise and fig notes. Shows a sense of elegance and refinement. Ends with a pithy texture.

A zesty, vibrant style, with lively cherry, plum and raspberry flavors picking up a dusty, cedary edge. This tilts toward grainy tannins on the aftertaste but the flavors remain persistent. Drink now through 2022.

Cambria is one of the early wineries in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio and has always been a popular producer of chardonnay and pinot noir from Santa Barbara County’s Santa Maria Valley. The 2013 Benchbreak Pinot Noir seems to have stepped up a notch in quality and packaging with a new label. The wine shows dark fruit flavors and silky texture without the overripe heaviness that sometimes characterizes Santa Maria Valley pinot.

Light and crisp, with flavors of lemons, limes and mangos, smooth finish.

A juicy full-bodied mouthful with mocha and dark chocolate and black fleshy plums. Pair with grilled meats.

A full-bodied, well-rounded, buttery wine with lovely balancing acidity and citrus fruit notes. Ideal for roast chicken or seafood with cream sauces, as well as lobster in butter. Finishes with nuances of fresh golden apple, pear and crème brûlée.

An approachable zin with notes of blackberry, cherry, black pepper and cedar. This zin is both savory and spicy, with a kick of petite sirah in the mix. A good pick for the budget-minded.

Texture is the stand-out quality of our Wine of the Week, Edmeades 2013 Mendocino County Zinfandel. It spreads across the palate like silk velvet, all lush and smooth. Tannic roughness doesn’t show up until the wine teases the sides of your tongue, by which time you are paying attention to other attributes that range from black pepper, cedar and Bing cherry to licorice root, allspice and black topsoil. The wine is fully savory, without the suggestion of sweetness that some bone-dry zinfandels show.

Offers lots of subtlety and polish, from the light, vanilla-accented toasty oak notes to the rich, creamy fig, honeydew, white peach and apricot flavors. Intense and elegant. Drink now.

Cambria is a family-owned, estate winery located in the heart of the famed Santa Maria bend in Santa Barbara County. The Tepusquet Vineyard is located at an elevation of 400 feet on the Cambria estate featuring sandy loam soils and a climate moderated by ocean influence. Winemaker Denise Shurtleff aged this Syrah in French oak, 20% new, to create a rich wine with concentrated dark berry aromas and flavors, with notes of earthy mineral, mocha and dried herbs.

K-J has made a habit over the past three decades of delivering more bang for the buck than most of its competitors. That's as true today as it was 25 years ago. The Grand Reserve is a perfect example. At $26, the 2013 vintage would do well in blind tastings with merlot costing as much as $40. It shows excellent richness and weight on the palate, seductive blueberry and plum fruit, and supple tannins for a smooth ride. Notes of oak spice and wood smoke are restrained and well judged.

Hint of oak, aromas and flavors of ripe peaches, mangos and spice, full-bodied and lush, long finish.

Hint of oak, aromas and flavors of red raspberries and spice, ripe tannin, medium body.

Hint of oak, flavors of black cherries and black pepper, ripe tannins.

Hint of oak, aromas of smoky oak and black raspberries, flavors of blueberries and coffee, firm tannins.

Smooth and spicy with strawberry and spice; crisp and racy with bright fruit and a long, mellow style with tangy acidity and depth.

Smooth and ripe with silky texture and notes of earth and spice; balanced and long.

Smooth and lush with dense texture and ripe berry fruit; rich and dense, ripe and balanced.