Splashes of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon add complexity to this flat-out delicious, stylish Merlot. Generous in plump plum, black raspberry and black cherry fruit, it has a very pleasant herbal quality, moderate oak structure and supple tannins.

It's a Merlot almost entirely with a little Malbec and a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County, it was awarded with 90 points in Wine Enthusiast magazine. Appearance: presents a cherry red color with violet edges that shows its perfect evolution and conservation granestado. Smell: It is a mix of different things, begins with touches of black pepper, giving way to delicate aromas of cinnamon and vanilla, in minutes you begin to discover the black fruits, where blackberries and blueberries stand out. Taste: It is a wine that is worth waiting, to see its great evolution in the glass, start with medium and friendly tannins, with a pleasant acidity, while the minutes pass the wine opens and the tannins offer us a certain sweetness and warmth. A good wine quality price.

There is nothing shy about this wine — it’s a bold, dry, fruity Merlot braced with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Tannat and Malbec. You pick up the dark cherry, dark currant, ripe dark plum character right away. I love the little dance in the finish by the Cab Franc – dried cranberry and bell pepper. It’s a dark, brooding wine packed with smoke and spice off the mostly French barrels. It was aged 17 months in wood. Alcohol is 14.5 percent. It’s a satisfying mouthful — a wine to sip and enjoy with a charred steak, lamb chops or a hearty red pasta dish.

2011 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Merlot, Sonoma County: aromas of cedar, flavors of black cherries and mocha, soft tannins, smooth; $28.

The aroma is spot-on cherries and dried herbs, and the savory nature of the wine is designed to go with food.

This is a smooth, suave, sophisticated merlot from a highly commercial winery that I can't help admiring. This is an ideal restaurant red — full-bodied enough to match with serious food, but perfectly ready to be drunk now. It offers intense black cherry fruit, with subtle herbal notes, and admirable persistence and finish. It just goes down real easy.

Flavors of juicy red and black cherry, licorice, sandalwood and spice abound in this dry, savory Merlot. It's easy to drink with burgers, steaks or lamb.

I hope for this wine’s sake Merlot has finally outlived the panning it got in the movie “Sideways.” This is the first Vintner’s Reserve to carry the Sonoma County, instead of California, appellation. And it is ever so fine: It’s an intense, brooding wine that marries mountain fruit with French and American oak barrels. Swirl a glass and catch the cherry, plum and red currant aromas sparked with spice and berries. Fruit is intense and wrapped in acidity and supple tannins.

In 2008, grape sourcing changed to all-Sonoma. It’s spicy, with dusty tannins and a wallop of black cherry, black plum, brown sugar and brown baking spices. Yummy.

Wilford Brimley as red wine: round, straightforward, the fruit and texture unadorned with neither wood nor winemaking gewgaw; its jovial plainness is heartwarming; fine price.

Beautiful, effusive plum and berry flavors and nose. This wine offers a very ripe fruit presence in the glass and a delightful berry, cherry fruit finish. This is a very pleasing wine that can accompany serious cuisine or just be sipped all by itself.

All the fruit is off hillside sites with well-drained soils that yield small berries with high skin to juice ratio, which means this baby has color and intense aromatics. It’s packed with berries, plums, mocha and toast. It’s dense and highly structured with vibrant acidity. For this Merlot and the Vintner’s Reserve, fruit is sourced from Sonoma’s Bennett Valley.

This is a very classy merlot that is drinking beautifully now. The nose exhibits a cherry hint of oak profile with black cherry flavor and a hint of chocolate and balance oak in the mouth. A terrific merlot!

Black cherry and black pepper aromas and flavors, soft tannins.

This is a good, casual merlot with aromas and flavors of black cherry, plum, herbs and spice. Nice texture. Good length.

It demonstrated the easygoing expression that is fairly common for this variety. Classic California merlot with black cherry, and a bit of oak spice in the nose and nice cherry and berry flavors in the mouth. Just a nice, drinkable California merlot.

Deep into the tasting, we finally had a second wine that rated Very Good. Fresh, clean and crisp, with good balance, good acidity, ample fruit and earth. This turned out to be Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve 2005.

Sourced from key North Coast vineyards, this Merlot is K-J taken up some notches: It has plenty of complexity, some ability to age, and richness. The nose is intense berries, black plums, anise, nutmeg and mocha. The palate has subtle tannins and good acidity to balance the fruit. It's aged in mostly French oak for eight months and is primarily made from Sonoma County fruit. Some wine know-it-alls pooh-pooh Merlot. Forget it!

A good merlot, rich and elegant. Aromas and flavors of black plum, toast and spice. Medium-bodied. Balanced.