…sweet, soft red berries.

This wine is sourced primarily from Napa and Sonoma counties, giving it a fairly dark appearance with sweet plum, chocolate and American oak aromas.

It reveals tart acidity (too high for my palate), as well as attractive berry, cherry, cola, and herb-like flavors in its light to medium-bodied style. It is a fresh, lively Merlot ...

Soft and easy to drink.

K-J reds tend to be user-friendly, but this one is rather austere, especially for merlot. Its flavors are highly concentrated, in the cassis direction, and the finish is harshly tannic. A few years of cellaring should help.

A little closed on the nose for now but there is good dusty bramble fruit somewhere in there. Fine, gamey palate with savory leather intensity. Classic New World Merlot. Beautiful wood quality and layers of complexity.

Creamy oak sweetness and elements of brush and dried herbs crowd the narrow, cherry-like qualities of the clean aromas here, and, on the palate, the wine is largely determined by its very rich, but very strident oak. Happily, that oak is very good oak, and while the wine's underlying fruit speaks with a hushed voice, it assumes a sufficient role to keep things on the varietal course. A little dry at the finish and never more than lightly tannic, the wine calls for early consumption rather than long-term keeping and will do well with savory roasts in the coming two or three years.

Light varietal herbaceousness is set against a bit of withdrawn fruit in the low-keyed nose, and the flavors follow with ripe, loosely defined fruit and trailing oak. Rounded, low in tannin and nearly soft in feel, the wine depends mightily on its relative youth, and all signs point to an early maturity. Fine for current drinking, it should not be held for long.

Earth, eucalyptus, red fruits, cedar. Balanced and penetrating.

Drink it over the next 3-4 years for its berry, coffee, herb-tinged, medium-bodied personality.

Rich and fruity, boasting lots of plum, black cherry, currant and spicy mint notes, cedary oak and plush tannins. Packs a wallop with its flavor.

Sweet oak and milder notes of cherries are joined by a bit of leafy, dried-brush spice in the direct, moderately ripe aromas. Immediately likable in the mouth, the wine offers a tasty mix of concentrated cherry and sweet oak flavors that is trimmed with the faintest touch of herbs. Long, lively and always rounded in feel, it provides plenty of near-term enjoyment but should improve slightly over the next three or four years.

Spicy currant and herb notes, picking up a cedary edge on the finish.

It's sweet-cream and spice qualities are inviting.

Ripe cherry and herbal tones are nicely fit with a sweet oak background. Can be served any time over the next five years or so with broiled or marinated meats.

Recommended.

A dramatic wine made with 15 percent cabernet franc. The wine has explosive fruit and a long finish.

A solid effort, with ripe currant, cherry and spicy oak flavors, but also has a leathery, barnyardy edge. Balanced and ready to drink now.

This has a broad spectrum of flavors, mouth-filling blackberry fruit and a hint of chocolate. Forward in style with soft tannins and long finish.

Try these selections if your post-holidays wallet is a bit light From the brand started in 1983, Kendall-Jackson has grown into one of the world's larger family-owned wine companies. The Vintner's Reserve line remains the company's backbone.

Very fine quality, this is a stylish, finely flavored Merlot that is supple, well balanced, moderately intense, and long and harmonious on the finish. In aroma/flavor, it tastes of black currant, cherry, blackberry, toast, and cedar. Lightly tannic, it will develop with further aging. 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc. 5 stars, exceptional.

Grand Reserve is Kendall Jackson winemaker’s blend of their mountain, ridge, hillside and benchland grapes grown along California’s cool coastal appellations. The wine was aged in mostly French oak, 28% new, but does a great job of integrating the oak for complexity and structure. Look for red currant and cherry flavors with background notes of cedar, cocoa and spice.

Gold Medal

True to the power and intensity of wines created from the 2013 vintage in California, this baby will rock your socks: It has big, bold, dark berry flavors with notes of dark plum, dark cherry, dark chocolate and cedar. Tannins are refined; acidity provides structure. It was aged 17 months in mostly French oak. It's no wallflower.