Jess Jackson continues his quest for the perfect blended wine. This combination of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino is quite hefty in astringent tannins. Beneath that is a rich core of sweet black cherry fruit. It seems designed for the cellar. Best after 2007.

Very tart in acidity, this wine from the cooler parts of Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma has a green minerally edge to its apple pie flavors. It's well oaked, and long on the spicy finish.

The blending of six per cent Semillion and four per cent Viognier, plus aging of eight per cent of the wine in new oak illustrate how K-J is sculpting the style of Sauvignon, trying to retain core herbaceousness and zest while adding complexity. It works well. The nose shows some vanilla and butterscotch sweetness, atop green fig fruit. The palate is warm yet fresh, with a sweet note on the finish, as well as grapefruit and spice.

This is a pretty good Cab, with polished flavors of blackberries, cherries, dried herbs and coffee. The tannins are smooth and chunky...

Pretty nose of peach and lemon zest with generous peach, apple, almond and hazelnut flavors; crisp, balanced palate, pleasant finish.

Other Syrah(s) that offer a lot of flavor for the money include the 2001 Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve.

A muscular blend of fruit from three counties; shows more depth than most California efforts.

Good full ruby. Reticent, pure aromas of chocolate, mocha, cola and minerals. Sweet, suave and opulent, with compelling flavors of raspberry and minerals. Wonderfully intense and fresh California wine, finishing with superb sweetness of fruit and length.

Medium ruby. Aromatic nose combines wild blackberry, Cuban tobacco, chocolate cake, smoke and minerals. Concentrated, lush and impressively sweet, with snappy raspberry and mineral flavors dominating. This is kept fresh by harmonious acidity but is also lush, seamless and expansive. Finishes with broad tannins and impressive sweetness and persistence. This St. Emilion-style blend is still very young and may prove to be the best of the 2001 trio made under the Verite label.

Good full medium ruby. Captivating aromas of black and red raspberry, violet, bitter chocolate and sexy oak. Supersweet, lush and highly concentrated, with exotic flavors of black raspberry and milk chocolate. Very suave, inviting wine, finishing with very fine tannins, superb length, and a note of espresso. Impressive and utterly seductive.

Bright ruby. Roasted, medicinal aromas of currant, espresso, bitter chocolate and minerals. Thick, fat and sweet, with compelling opulence for a cabernet-dominated wine (this is Seillan's Pauillac blend) and an almost exotic berry flavor. Finishes with sweeter tannins than the 2001 Muse, perhaps a testament to the superiority of high-quailty cabernet sauvignon.

Full medium ruby. Superripe aromas of chocolate, leather, gunflint, coffee and menthol. Sweet, large-scaled and superripe, with a sappy freshness for such a lush, rich wine. Finishes very long and aromatic, with the tannins nicely supported by the wine's huge material. Winemaker Seillan considers the young 2002 to be more elegant than the 2001.

Bright ruby. Aromas of black raspberry, coffee, chocolate, licorice and spicy oak. Less sweet and more penetrating than the 2001, with gripping flavors of dark berries, licorice, menthol and chocolatey torrefaction. Today this is behaving more like a Pauillac than the 2001. Firmly tannic, strong and long on the aftertaste.

Deep ruby. Cassis, violet, licorice and espresso on the nose. Intensely flavored and sharply delineated, with lovley early sweetness and excellent volume. Powerful flavors of berry liqueur and violet. Winemaker Chris Carpenter uses 100% new barrels that he describes as soft. The wine's tannins, he says, come entirely from the fruit. Finishes firmly tannic and very long. A very strong showing.

Full medium ruby. Blackberry and licorice on the nose, with some oaky torrefaction. Sweet, broad, dense and sexy, with medicinal black cherry and dark berry flavors complicated by chocolate and spice cake. Downright velvety in the middle palate, but its building tannins are a bit youthfully aggressive (and will be smoothed out with a fining, according to winemaker Chris Carpenter). Very long and promising.

Full ruby. Briary dark berries, licorice and tar, lifted by a floral nuance. Impressively concentrated but tightly wound and backward, with powerful flavors of briary berries, chocolate and truffle. Finishes with chewy, firm tannins and excellent aromatic persistence. This has turned out very well, but calls for at least five or six years of bottle aging.

Pale lemon-yellow. High-pitched aromas of orange blossom, lemon and minerals. Bright, lively and intense, with citrus, nectarine and stone flavors nicely framed by strong but well-integrated acidity. Very juicy, tautly structured chardonnay with a youthfully firm, lingering finish. I like this!

Bright ruby-red. Roasted red berries, tobacco, game, coffee and animal fur on the nose. Lush, layered and sweet, with sexy flavors of roasted berries and game. Finishes uncompromisingly dry, with building, ripe tannins.

Full ruby-red. Varietally expressive aromas of wild berries, cola, sassafras, roasted herbs and smoky oak; reminded me of Morey-Saint-Denis. Sweet, dense and highly concentrated, with the wild berry flavors nicely framed by juicy acidity. Bright and classically dry, finishing young and strong. This was bottled in January of '04, while the other pinots were finished last August.

Full medium ruby. Liqueur-like aromas of raspberry, leather, sassafras and cocoa powder; superripe but less roasted than the 2001 version. Impressively opulent, even unctuous, with compelling sweetness of fruit. A very large-scaled wine that appears to have enough freshness and structure for balance. Offers impressive potential.

Full ruby. Cassis, licorice and bitter chocolate on the nose. Dense, fat and broad but uncompromisingly dry, with flavors of currant, leather, licorice and tobacco. Finishes strong and long, with serious but ripe tannins. Highly promising.

Good medium ruby. Highly aromatic nose combines black fruits, sassafras, violet, chocolate, coffee, smoke and game. Large-scaled, seamless and rich, with lovely dept of texture. The wine's briary black fruit flavors are nicely complemented by violet and white pepper. Dense, sweet, generous cabernet, finishing with ripe tannins and excellent length.

Good dark red. Musky, nuanced aromas of red berries, earth, minerals, truffle and cocoa powder. Fatter, sweeter and juicier than the Seascape, with sound acids framing the complex flavors of strawberry, minerals and earth. Full without being at all heavy. Persistent and authoritative on the finish, with subtle complexity. From a crop level of under two tons to the acre, according to winery president Don Hartford, who is also CEO of Jackson Family Farms' Artisans & Estates group.