Reliable, simple Pinot Noir that is well balanced and well priced. Black cherry and spice dominate the palate.

Classy with some real stuff, yet quite easy to drink.

Berries and plums, a sweet core, and plenty of tannic grip highlight this well-made mainstream effort.

Mild yet ripe sporting a bit of cherry pie, cooked sweetness, this wine is equally open and direct on the palate. Its soft texture and rounded feel make it a wine for the present, and finding it at a discount will add to its charms.

Deep black cherry flavors, rich, very drinkable. Not necessarily complex, but definitely quaffable.

A pinot that's a little rustic. Smoky, gamy and earthy. A racy mouthfeel. Rich and plush. Flavors of cherry, cranberry, leather and mushroom. Lingering finish.

Smooth as a politician's promise.

Under-priced for the money--smooth as a politician's promise.

Counting on it's ample oak for character, this bottling serves up a certain spicy sweetness in both its aromas and the flavors while remaining fairly reserved in fruit. Soft and easy on the palate to start, it tastes faintly of dried cherries beneath a more obvious measure of vanilla, and it fades away quietly to a clean and uneventful finish.

Bright cherry scents turn toward blueberry syrup flavors in this light and gentle syrah. What it lacks in impact it makes up for in grace, in its ease as a house pour.

...full-bodied, thick and toasty, with classic syrah hints of dark fruits and licorice.

Pure blueberry fruit compote on the nose, then juicy plum and dark fruit flavors come through. Again, not deep stuff, and probably not meant to be, but certainly not simplistic red wine. The blueberries and cream (from the oak) provide an upbeat finish with vanilla lingering on the finish well after the last swallow.

Ripe raspberry and smoked bacon aroma, forward berry flavors, refined tannins, long, balanced finish.

Medium-Full; Dry; Ripe raspberry and smoked-bacon aromas; richly textured flavors, ripe berry notes, full refined tannins.

Offering up a bit of the plummy fruit and peppery spice of the grape, this very open and smoothly textured wine shows little of Syrah's potency or richness of feel and flavor. It smacks a bit of simple sweetness and, while perfectly gulpable, stands among the mildest of its class.

Medium; Dry; Layered fruit, smoky oak aromas; good texture and length, layers of ripe berry fruit, concentrated, good length.

Smoky oak, ripe cherry-berry notes, hint of spice; richly texture flavors, firm tannins, elegant balance, layered fruit. Value.

An approachable wine with blueberry, blackberry and dried cherry flavors. A bit soft but varietally correct.

Although clean, mildly fruity and dressed up in a bit of sweet oak, this slightly thin middleweight says little about Syrah and lacks the spice, the size and grip expected of the variety.

Dark cherries and plums, toasted oak, and tobacco-leaf notes; soft tannins, ripe fruit, oak accents; long finish. Value.

A clean syrah with everything in sync. Blueberries, raspberries and tobacco on the palate. A bit earthy.

Toasty, nutty aromas, intense raspberry flavors, espresso finish.

Juicy fruit, more than peppery spice, is the emphatic theme of this open and up-front young Syrah, and the wine is helped along its way by a nice touch of sweet, slightly vanillin oak. Its soft and easy mouthfeel further contributes to its overall immediacy…

A bit brambly and zin-like. A syrah--wannabe. Boysenberry fruit flavors as opposed to blackberry.

Here's an example of syrah from a single vineyard (and a cooler region in California that brings out that deep, fleshy character of the grape with all its exotic spiciness and smoke.