There is a distinct note of menthol present on the red berry fruit, plum, violet and spicy nose. The juicy and succulent medium weight flavors possess solid mid-palate concentration as well as a lush mouth feel, all wrapped in a dusty, sappy and lingering finish. While there is enough warmth to notice it’s not dominating though it does affect the overall sense of harmony and as such I would be inclined to drink this on the younger side for its fruit.

One of the ripest and most weighty wines on the Siduri 2013 Pinot Noir roster, this broad-shouldered working runs headlong to richness and finishes with evident heat in its wake. It is bold, it is big and it is patently unrefined, but fairly deep fruit is never far from view, and, if beauty may lie beyond its reach even with age, there is simply no question that it will improve with four or five years of cellaring.

An expressive and attractively fresh array of higher-toned red berry fruit elements leads to delicious and lively flavors that exhibit a lovely sense of detail on the dusty, balanced and lingering finish. This is not especially refined but it offers reasonably good depth and length as well as enough depth to be interesting. Moreover it will age if desired, in fact it should reward a few years of cellaring. Good value.

This is aromatically much higher-toned than the Russian River Valley with red pinot fruit, spice and discreet cranberry nuances. The supple, round and lilting flavors are almost delicate yet possess solid punch and vibrancy, all wrapped in a dusty, focused, precise and solidly lingering finish. This doesn’t have the depth of the Russian River Valley but it’s a quality effort all the same while offering good value.

Starting with an appealing mix of crisp apples and creamy oak in the nose and adding an intriguing minerally twist to its fairly deep and otherwise very like-minded flavors, this easy-to-like, mid-sized offering is nicely rounded in feel and charged with the freshness of youth. It does not bristle with acidity but is spry and lively all the same, and we highly recommend that it be enjoyed sooner than later.

High-toned Meyer lemon and edgy minerality give this coastal wine a freshness on the palate, along with a complexity of fennel and apple. Juicy and medium bodied, it picks up a fullness on the texture as it goes, while remaining balanced and pleasing.

Pinots from this appellation are often drawn along tighter lines, and, while teasing at first with suggestions of black cherries and cola in the nose, this one very much fits the model and proves to be fairly taut and compact on the palate. Its acidy pertness will appeal to many right now, but it is just edgy enough to argue for another year or two of age.

Here is a wine of two very mixed minds in that it starts out fairly ripe and slightly viscous, but somewhere in mid-palate, it takes an unexpected turn to acidy tightness and winds up both a bit stiff and hot at the end. Through it all, however, it shows a steady measure of raspberry- and cherry-like fruit, and, if a little at war with itself at the moment, it will relax and knit together far better if allowed even a brief bit of age.

If fairly likeable stuff and a wine that goes right down the middle of the varietal road, this bottling correctly evokes the cherry-like fruit of Pinot Noir but is never as deep or as layered as Siduri’s best efforts. It is moderately full-bodied and firmed by late-arriving acidity, and it comes with modest promise for better with time.

A very straightforward, ripe and reasonably fruity Pinot Noir, it is focused on red cherries and black with a slight tilt to heaviness where a bit of lightness and vitality might have been. Still and all, this wine has enough fruit and structure on its side to serve nicely with grilled steaks and chops, and, if slightly gruff at the end, it will smooth with a bit of aging.

A native Texan and frequent business traveler, Lee knows that people across the U.S. don’t feel as comfortable about wine as they do in Sonoma. Even at $30 a bottle and under, wine is a luxury for most. Siduri’s 2013 Sonoma County Pinot Noir (87 points) is $22, one of the best wine deals in the world.

The Siduri 2013 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (88 points) is $33. The fruit Lee uses is a combination of specific vineyards he’s identified as good sources for more reasonably priced grapes, as well as declassified barrels from each of the vineyard designates. He uses less new oak to help bring the cost down.

A snappy zinfandel with a great concentration of fruit. Layered herbs and cracked black pepper in the mix. What makes this zin a standout is its bright fruit coupled with crisp acid. Many zins fail to achieve balance. This zin is generous yet shows restraint, which makes it a tasty food zin.

Our Wine of the Week, Novy Family Winery 2013 Russian River Valley Zinfandel, is a kick-up-your-heels sort of quaffer, with exuberant acidity, its signal quality. Sip after sip, the wine’s natural brightness ferries its flavor over your palate, with bursts of red raspberry, black raspberry, black plum, ripe cherries and licorice root. Hints of sage, dried wild thyme and black pepper punctuate the fruit with an alluring spiciness that lingers on the wine’s long, silky finish.

Harmonious, this Bordeaux look-alike boasts ripe black cherry, black currant, cassis and violet flavors, with leather and tobacco elements creeping in. Needs time to absorb the beefy tannins. Best from 2017 through 2026.

The flavors fan out in this firm, spice-driven mix of earthy berry, dried herb and savory notes. Gains focus and depth.

Marked by an elegant array of spicy raspberry, blueberry, anise and fine-grained, earth-laced tannins. Most impressive on the finish, where the tannins sustain the flavors.

Matches rich, dense dark berry fruit with firm, earth-laced tannins that give the blueberry and wild berry flavors traction. Offers a long, persistent finish.

Features a tight, vibrant core of snappy, zesty wild berry, black cherry, licorice and anise flavors that is pure, focused, persistent and lingering.

Well done, with a rich core of berry, plum, spice and light oak, building depth and dimension. Tapers off on the finish.

Once again La Crema comes through with a delicious well-crafted pinot noir. Berry and plum nose and flavors with a nice spice element. Medium bodied and very quaffable especially slightly chilled in the summertime.

You've got to hand it to Kendall-Jackson -- as big as they are, and as crowd pleasing as the wines tend to be across the board, they still do it with complexity and class, at reasonable prices for the quality provided. This Grand Reserve Pinot Noir delivers rich ripe fruit, but doesn't leave out the earthy characteristics that you expect in an upper level bottling. Here, you get upper level quality at a lower mid level price. A blend of grapes from Monterey and Santa Barbara counties