Kendall-Jackson's 2006 Vintner's Reserve Pinot Noir was soft and cherryish...

Kendall-Jackson's self-evidently stylish, full-flavoured and well-balanced 2006 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay was the only white I really wanted to drink.

Jess Jackson and wife Barbara Banke teamed up with Pierre Seillan to revive Chateau Lessegue on the right bank of the Gironde River in Bordeaux. This most worthy wine is a blend of mostly Cabernet Franc and old-vines Merlot and some Cabernet Sauvignon. It's quite the taste: gorgeous silky ripe tannins, intense concentration of flavors, and a long, rich finish. The nose is licorice, herbs and vanilla; tannins coat the mouth; and flavors are cherries, cassis, dark chocolate and espresso. It's such a showy wine, it would take quite the show-stopping dish to match with it -- a thick, grilled veal chop or chateaubriand. It's a flavor experience to taste the intensity of the Caberent Franc!

Deep red purple. Slightly herbal stemmy nose, a hint of grassiness. Palate is tannin-driven, drying and savoury, with lots of oak tannin that puckers the mouth. Concentrated, dense, chewy and extracted but not bitter or harsh. Lots of cherry and plum fruit, coconut/vanilla/toasty oak and rustic. A little old-fashioned, and worth cellaring.

Deep, rich and concentrated wine with layered flavors of ripe red fruit, zesty spices and tangy bone-dry finish. In essence, it tastes like a big bowl of cherries with plenty of weight and structure on the palate.

One of the many brands in wine magnate, Jess Jackson's ever-expanding portfolio, Carmel Road produces a Chardonnay with pear and vanilla nuances.

Three stars: A stew of red fruits, a touch of oak and hint of cola. Gentle and round with a taste of wood and youthful astringency. Until 2011

Three Stars: Pure and clear red fruit aromas lead to soft, lush mid-palate with earthy flavors and a smattering of peppery tannins. Until 2010.

The first voice the entry-level bottling-from this estate owned by California's Jess Jackson is a Melot/Cabernet blend of graceful depth and sophistication. A super-bargain via international winemaker Pierre Seillan.

...or look for Kendall-Jackson's lighter, more peppery 2006 Vintner's Reserve.

Kendall-Jackson makes a very good, black cherry-inflected, single-vineyard Pinot, the 2005 Highland Estates Seco Highlands that would be perfect...

Kendall-Jackson, best known for its ubiquitous Vintner's Blend Chardonnay, makes a wide range of red and white wines, among them this aromatic, muscular Syrah.

Very few red table wines have the oomph to stand up to a dessert as sweet as this one (Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce); a full-bodied Cabernet like the cassis-rich, structured 2004 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve is the best option.

...Kendall-Jackson's lively 2006 Vintner's Reserve Riesling, which typically has a zippy acidity that's a good complement to sharp cheese.

Few wines pair well with asparagus, but Sauvignon Blanc is an exception - the variety's grassy, herbal notes complement asparagus's strong flavor. Kendall-Jackson's 2006 Vintner's Reserve Sauvignon, with its fresh citrusy fruit, is a great partner for this springtime salad.

The creamy Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay can stand up to the gumbo's intense flavors.

Jackson is justifiably famous for his Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay, which has only gotten better as the winery has shifted solely to using grapes from its own vineyards.

The '02 Stature is a 70/28/2 cabernet/merlot/petit verdot blend that is beginning to awaken. Stature is always the best-of-the-best fruit, meaning it is a vintage dependent, block-by-block pick. Love the coffee, leather, tobacco notes as they mix with the spicy, blackberry jam, clove and cedar aspects. On the palate, the wine is rich, round, supple and concentrated. It has fine density to the corners, with smoky, vanilla, coffee, peppery, blackberry jam, black cherry, clove, olive, cardamom flavours, with a warm, long finish. It's beginning to shape up, but with its finesse and length, it has fine potential to age through 2015. Well done.

This is the first releases from the vineyard, Jackson Family Farms planted on several ridges in Annapolis, just inland from Peay. Fine oak (all French, 60 percent of it new) contributes to the grand cru beauty of the wine, enhancing the power of the fruit - tart cherry and pomegranate that start our transparent and grow more vibrant and lush as the flavors expand into the finish. It's a wine of considerable ripeness and intensity that's focused on harmony and grace. For crisp roast duck.

2004 Toscana Arcanum I Arceno is Jess Jackson's estate in Chianti Classico, just north of Siena. Pierre Seillan blends several wines from the property; Arcanum I, which is focused on cabernet franc (59 %), with cabernet sauvignon and merlot, is consistently the best. This wine glows in the glass, its aroma pure black currant, sweet and fresh. It has the class of finely grown cabernet franc, with tannins that speaks more of Tuscan earth than fruit. Robust in weight, yet silky smooth, this combines the best of the old and New worlds in a supple, luscious red wine. Probably best around ten years from the vintage. Serve with grilled baby lamb chops.

Stackhouse makes this wine from an estate vineyard just outside Navarro and another, near Philo, under long-term contract. There's laserlike focus in the foresty, wild fruit, a dark flavor that brings huckleberries to mind. The depth in the aroma continues on through the finish, where a hint of seaweed and tangerine-like acidity point up the freshness in this mouthwatering red. For bone-in pork chops roasted with hedgehog mushrooms.

Alisos is cool-climate syrah that is 100 percent grown at Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County. Look for an intense red wine, with smoky, floral, peppery red fruit aromas and flavours. On the palate, the wine is meaty, with black raspberry, cherry cola flavours. The attack is round, the textures dense, almost beefy, with super ripe fruit. Alisos is becoming consistently good, year in and year out.

Hawkeye Mountain is the spectacular signature KJ property on Alexander Mountain...The 2005 is easily the best yet, bathed in spicy black cherry, and tobacco scented fruit flecked with green olive, licorice and cassis. Clone 4 and 7 cabernets, grown on steep hillsides and terraces, provide a firm structure for this red wine to live a long life. Impressive and savoury, made from small clusters of small berries, sitting well above the valley floor at 900-2,200 feet elevation. Buy and cellar for 5 to 7 years and beyond.

Block M is 100 percent clone 4 chardonnay and it delivers on all levels. Sophisticated, rich, elegant and packed full of floral, pineapple, citrus, buttery fruit, with flecks of orange and spice. Fresh toasted bread mixes with a creamy mid-palate and a long smouldering finish. Excellent finesse and length in a 100 percent barrel-fermented (French) oak that is 3-quarters new. Kendall-Jackson is buying and aging its oak before barrel assembly and it shows in the quality of the wine.

The latest Seco Highlands pinot is another jump up in finesse and elegance. There is also more black cherry fruit this year, and a little less of the spicy, carrot top and rhubarb flavours. Fine mid-palate weight, with smoky black fruit in the finish. Refined textures. It is aged 10 months in 100 percent French oak and 50 percent of that is new. Impressive.