Good deep medium ruby. Crushed cassis, licorice, spices, minerals and a whiff of currant leaf on the complex nose. Juicy, firmly built and serious, with ripe flavors of dark berries and spices complemented by a whiff of fresh herbs. At once sweet and classically dry. This offers lovely aromatic lift on the back end, finishing with broad, toothdusting tannins and excellent subtle persistence. Interestingly, this has the highest pH of these four Anakota wines (3.84, compared to 3.63 to 3.68 for the other three), but there's no shortage of verve.

The soil here is rich in white volcanic ash. Good full ruby. Black fruits and a hint of game on the nose. Silky on entry, then more complex and less oaky in the middle palate than the Helena Dakota bottling, offering an attractive combination of ripeness and verve. But not at all overly sweet. Finishes with substantial but ripe tannins and a juicy quality that suggests this will age gracefully. According to Barbara Banke, co-owner of Jackson Wine Estates with her husband Jess Jackson, this winery used two sorting tables beginning with the 2004 harvest, and also introduced a Mistral machine that blows away damaged and dried-out grapes and bits of stalks.

Deep red. Spicy cherry and cassis aromas are a bit musclebound but slowly open to show subtle floral and iron qualities. Powerful, deeply concentrated cherry and cherry skin flavors dominate the palate. Finishes with solid tannins and a hint of espresso. This needs time.

Ruby-red. Suave and intensely aromatic, with lush cherry and cassis aromas underscored by gentle oak spice notes. Silky in texture, with sweet cherry compote and blackcurrant flavors, soft tannins and impressive power on the finish. Sweet and impressively seamless cabernet.

Light gold. Vibrant, smoky aromas of spicy pear and nectarine braced by bright mineral tones. Tangy orchard fruit flavors are impressively focused and brisk, extending through a long, spicy finish. Gains weight with air, picking up light butter and orange notes.

Hazy gold. Full-throttle peach, poached pear and sweet butter scents, with a light kiss of smoke. Lush, round and creamy, with good heft to the ripe orchard fruit flavors. Picks up a note of ripe melon with air. Very open and expressive today.

Deep ruby. Strong floral and spice notes accent cherry and raspberry liqueur, all lifted by bright minerality. Impressively energetic redcurrant and wild strawberry flavors show noteworthy elegance. Finishes on a precise red berry note, with fine tannins and very good persistence.

From rocky red clay soil. Full red-ruby. Aromas of licorice, graphite, tobacco, minerals and fresh herbs on the nose, along with some sweet oak. Then supple but slightly edgy in the mouth, with a musky quality and a slight greenness to the medicinal black cherry and currant flavors. Finishes with building, slightly gritty tannins. This boasts very good material but today the wine's 75% new oak component seems a bit overbearing.

Bright ruby. Vibrant, mineral-accented red currant and cherry aromas, with a gentle licorice tone. Darker on the palate, with cassis and bitter cherry flavors, dusty tannins and firm grip. This has old-school texture and restraint.

Inky ruby. Energetic, minerally raspberry and cherry nose, with a subtle licorice accent. Bright red berry flavors are firmed by fine-grained tannins, with the finish showing a refreshing mineral lift. An elegant, understated style that should work well with food.

Ruby-red. Very Old World on the nose, showing bright redcurrant and cherry qualities complemented by a gentle cedar tone. The bright red fruit flavors have firm structural support, although the tannins remain gentle. Good energy on the finish.

Light straw. Intensely perfumed nose offers energetic citrus, floral and spice scents underscored by zesty minerality. Brisk, focused grapefruit and lime flavors carry through a pleasingly bitter finish. One of the better examples of this bottling I've drunk in recent years.

Light gold. Dense and ripe on the nose, offering powerful pear skin, yellow plum and blonde tobacco aromas. An intriguing cherry pit quality emerges with air, adding a sense of depth. Intensely flavored but light in weight, with precise orchard fruit flavors, a gentle acid lift and a note of woodsmoke. Finishes with bright minerality and good length.

Ruby-red. Subdued, reticent aromas of cassis, licorice, minerals and musky dark chocolate. Broad, large-scaled and dry but less filled in than the Dakota and showing less personality today. There's good material here but today the wine's substantial tannins cut off the fruit. And this wine was slightly de-acidified, noted co-owner Barbara Banke.

Ruby-red. Ripe, smoky scents of deep blackberry and plum complemented by suave oak spice. Weighty and round, the dark fruit flavors lifted by soft acidity and firmed by gentle tannins. Finishes sweet, with good length.

Pale straw. Restrained, mineral-accented citrus aromas are fresh and focused. I'd have called this riesling, such is its elegance and understatement. Precise lemon and pear flavors show the slightest hint of rose. Finishes gently spicy and persistent.

Light gold. Fresh melon and peach scents accented by bright minerality. Lush and expansive, with ripe honeydew and nectarine flavors, chewy texture and a hint of baking spices. Clean citrus and melon tones linger on the finish.

Pale yellow. Spicy and buttery on the nose, with a light hint of brioche deepening fresh citrus and apple aromas. Clean and brisk, with bright green apple and salty mineral flavors. Finishes with rather taut, nicely focused citrus tones and a hint of toasty oak. This is refreshing enough to serve by itself.

Clean, fairly direct in fruit and showing scattered hints of honey throughout, this medium-sweet wine is rounded in feel and easy on the palate, and it is kept alive by just enough balancing acidity. It will make for fine quaffing as the weather warms, and the price is right.

Here's a nice alternative to Cabernet in a full-bodied red wine at this price range. It's completely friendly, from the first taste of cherries and chocolate to the softly gentle texture and all the way through the pleasingly spicy finish.

Our wine of the week, Kendall-Jackson 2005 Vintner's Reserve Syrah, is a somewhat subtle example of the direction of this varietal in California, and the New World in general. It does not have as much immediate forward fruit as Jess Jackson, founder of the behemoth brand, usually advocates. Instead, flavors begin to unfold midpalate, with a general sense of dark fruit swaddled in violet and lavender. A profoundly silky texture resolves in just a bit of roughness around the edges, where the wine's earthier qualities linger.

A rich, meaty syrah. Aromas and flavors of lavender, violet, dark plum, blackberry and caramel. Nice jammy fruit. Medium complexity. Soft texture.

Sometimes, bigger is better. Kendall-Jackson's 2005 California Vintner's Reserve Zinfandel is a real surprise. It has just enough Zin - 76% - to be legally called Zin. The rest is made up from Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Those additional grapes add up to a delicious bottle of wine with a great deal more complexity than is usual at the price.

A 2004 Syrah was firm and spicy, with dark fruits and a rustic feel. It reminded me of Cotes-du-Rhone.

A great match with lamb. Complex and toasty with jammy cherry fruit flavors. Exotic, with notes of rose petal, cola, toast and spice.