Spicy oak frames the plush, juicy red plum and black fruit; the supple, mouth-coating tannins are balanced by palate-whisking acidity. It delivers more than its relatively modest price would suggest.

This is Merlot you can almost chew - the firm tannins; the concentrated fruit; the spicy, toasty oak; the balance from the acidity; and the alcohol that adds to the body. The Merlot is further braced with Cabernet Sauvignon and some Malbec and Petit Verdot. Imagine an intense jam made of cherries and plums, spiked with espresso.

A tasty, approachable red with notes of currant, plum and anise. Nice length.

Hint of oak, aromas and flavors of black cherries and milk chocolate, long, smooth finish.

Merlot, like Syrah, has suffered its share of arrows and slings, yet its affable, outgoing aspects are still beloved by many and a careful look at retailers’ shelves will reveal more than a few very fine values...and the very solid, keenly focused (one star) Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Sonoma County 2012 Merlot.

We are both surprised and bemused by Merlot’s ongoing lack of respect, but if that explains why so many attractive examples can be found at such reasonable prices, then we are not about to complain. KENDALL-JACKSON checks in with its second Best Buy mention this month for its Grand Reserve Sonoma County 2012 ($26.00)...

Well-stated, black cherry fruit is joined by a hint of tea-leaf herbaceousness and trim touch of hardwoody sweetness in the attractive aromas here, and the wine follows with like-minded, medium-depth flavors that are made all the easier to like by its mannerly balance and tactile polish. While certain to keep comfortably and improve for a few years, it is entirely enjoyable now, and, considering its minimal increase in price over the winery’s Vintner’s Reserve version, it is definitely the one to buy of the Kendall-Jackson pair.

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!