A real breakthrough is the 2008 Vintner's Reserve Pinot Noir. Entirely from Jackson Estate vineyards, this wine is loaded with rhubarb, wild strawberry, cherry, and berry fruit in a medium-bodied, very Pinot Noir-tasting style. Dark ruby-colored with good freshness and liveliness, there are just under 100,000 cases of this Pinot Noir, meant to be drunk in its first 2-3 years of life. The lowest level of the Kendall-Jackson empire, the Vintner's Reserve series, goes from strength to strength. For consumers hoping to maximize their dollar value, these serious wines are consistent choices. Their Chardonnay has always been good, but dramatic increases in quality have taken place in the Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon programs.

Though light-bodied, this wine is more firmly structured than many California Pinot Noirs, and offers satisfying because neither sappy nor saccharined dark cherry fruit flavors enhanced by echoes of savory spice. Few Pinots at this price point prove as enticing.

A gentle, harmonious pinot noir with strawberry and orange flavors, this is light bodied and pleasingly simple.

The nose is pinot, with an appealing smoky, black cherry aroma and bits of steeped tea. The mid-palate is rich and round, with more smoky black fruit and fine structure. Winemaker Randy Ullom adds a dash of syrah to the blend to bolster the mid-palate and add some complexity, and it seems to work just fine. Much like the previous version, this is well-managed, cool style pinot sourced from Monterey, Santa Barbara, Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa counties. Impressive for the price.

Medium ruby color; earthy, some cherry aromas; ripe, cherry flavors with earthy, slightly toasty notes; good structure and balance; long finish. Good medium bodied Pinot with pleasing flavors that will work well with most foods.

Gentle and round with soft flavors of baked red cherries, this wine has a meaty texture and enough bloody tannin for roast beef with Yorkshire pudding.

Medium red. Strawberry, rose petal, smoked meat, gingerbread, earth and smoke on the nose. Smooth and smoky in the mouth, with a velvety texture and mellow but sappy flavors of red fruits, spices and earth. Finishes broad, musky and dry, with lingering notes of red berries, minerals and rose petal.

Medium-deep ruby purple color; spicy, rich, red cherry fruit with some spice, good structure, lingering finish. Nice fruity Pinot...

Medium-deep ruby color; ripe cherry and plum aromas with some spice; ripe and rich with nice cherry and plum flavors, spicy, silky mouthfeel, nice touch of oak; good balance and structure; lingering finish. This Pinot has a lot of the ripe, rich flavors of Monterey County Pinot and is nicely balanced.

Offers elegant cranberry strawberry, and currant flavors with notions of crushed rocks in the background. Medium-bodied and clean, it is best drunk over the next 3-4 years.

The Great Estates offerings are impressive...The 2000 Great Estates Pinot Noir Monterey exhibits aromas of strawberries, cherries, minerals, and smoke. made in a style reminiscent of Burgundy's Domaine Dujac Morey-St.-Denis, it is a medium ruby-colored, earthy, plum, cherry, herb, and spice-filled effort with an open-knit, expansive personality.

...offers up big, sweet, black cherry and berry aromas along with hints of asphalt, smoke and earth. Nicely-textured, medium to full-bodied, and soft...

Spicy, blackberry jam, floral, earthy roasted pepper aromas, very nice varietal tones. Round and soft with very forward tannins, has good blackberry jam, spicy, licorice, rootsy flavours. Good balance and will improve with a year in bottle.

Dark color. A brooding wine that smells yeasty and young - like berry jam with violets and plums. Tannins are considerable, but well crafted. Very dry, with good acidity. A big red wine, it's best to age it a few years and see what happens.

A rich and mouth-filling, beautifully balanced red, with blackberry, black cherry and black pepper flavors competing for attention.

Bold, rich and spicy, with plush, jammy plum, raspberry and cherry flavors that are smooth and polished. Has depth and concentration and the flavors linger; inviting to drink now, or cellar through 1996.

Approachable and spirited, with notes of huckleberry and cracked pepper, showing a hint of toffee on the finish.

Soft but zesty, with easygoing notes of black raspberry, orange zest and bittersweet chocolate.

Dark and smooth; roasted meat, spice and blackberry; toasty oak, smooth texture and a long finish.

The 2012 Syrah Jackson Estate Alisos Hills is laced with dark red/black fruit, black pepper, violets, dried herbs and licorice. Today the tannins are a bit forbidding, and keep the fruit from being fully expressive. I am note sure bottle age will make a material difference given that 2012 is such a showy vintage.

Dark, rich and ripe with black fruit and juicy acidity; balanced, fresh and charming with a long finish.

Like several other KJ Vintner's Reserve reds we've recommended lately, this wine is simple and clean, with saturation of flavor rather than excess weight. It focuses on tart red cherry flavor, almost Bing cherry in its brightness, with a meaty density underneath - the sort of red that's easy to drink with grilled chicken. A super value.

Winemaker Randy Ullom is well respected, and deservedly so, for the cleverness with which he manages K-J's Vintner's Reserve range. The wines are typically blends from Jess Jackson properties littered all over California, and keeping track of it all must be a bit of a nightmare at harvest. I say the man's a genius. Ullom not only keeps track of those thousands of individual lots, he makes perfect sense with them. The Syrah is one of the best wines in the Vintner's Reserve line and the '08 exhibits layered blueberry and black cherry nuance with a hint of animal and smokey oak...

Well done in '05, with that appealing KJ styling sitting over a ripe, smoky, peppery syrah, with just a hint of meaty, gamey notes. The palate is round and supple, with tasty vanilla, black cherry, licorice root and coffee flavours. Impressive dry, black fruit flavours run through the finish. It's 92 percent syrah with bits of carignane, grenache and petite sirah. With 72 percent French oak and climbing, and all-estate fruit, it is well on the way to stardom.

It seems as though the Vintner's Reserve wines, the lowest rung on the K-J ladder, has found another gear and are once again close to being the industry leaders in this price category. The '03 Syrah has plenty of horsepower, with bold dark berry fruit notes and a flattering earthiness that gives this wine a touch of character.