Moderately saturated amber-tinged red. Expressive but low-toned aromas of currant, tobacco, sassafras and truffle. Fat, sweet and plump, with good stuffing but a faint alcoholic warmth. Shows a lightly medicinal aspect. The finish betrays some heat. This will offer immediate drinkability and should evolve quickly.

Good full red. Perfumed aromas of red cherry, raspberry, cola, minerals and rose water. Juicy, lively and firm-edged, with bright red berry flavors of moderate complexity. Finishes a tad tart but not dry. From mostly estate fruit.

Good saturated ruby-red. Subdued but complex aromas of berries, licorice, cola, fresh herbs, mint, saddle leather and Earl Grey tea. Very dry and minerally, with slightly tart-edged, herbal flavors and a briary nuance.

Red-ruby. Currant, menthol and nutty oak on the nose. Rather supple and suave in texture, and herb-tinged flavors of currant, cedar and charred oak. Offers modest depth and texture.

Dark red. Plum, currant, tobacco, smoke and game on the nose, plus a light fertility. Juicy and vinous, with brisk flavors of tart berries and herbs.

Delivers a complex range of flavors built around a core of spicy pear, hazelnut, clove and citrus. Firm acidity gives it nice structure, too, finishing long and clean. Drink now through 2008.

Muscular, with bright fruit and nice spice.

This medium-bodied white deftly walks the middle ground between the herbaceous sauvignons of France and New Zealand and the rounder, oak-aged examples associated with California. Medium-bodied and lush, it serves up mounds of melon-and-pear-like fruit, with hints of fig, red apple and pineapple. The texture is soft, yet it finishes with good acidity to balance out the sweet fruit. This is a versatile sauvignon for sipping without food or throughout a meal centered around fish or chicken.

With the 2002, there's still a trademark dollop of residual sugar in the mid-palate, to be sure, but the wine is exceptionally well-balanced. Deliciously crowd-pleasing, with a fat core of ripe, tropical fruit, it finishes decidedly dry, with a nice prickle of acidity. The oak is subtle and well-integrated--far from conspicuous.

Elegant, with enticing aromas of peach, melon, and tangelo. Flavors of apple, apricot and spice. Rich and Round.

Although 2000 was an excellent vintage for California Syrah, 2001 is almost certainly the best since the early '90's. Nearly ever major Syrah-growing region in California produced perfectly ripe, plump and concentrated grapes in '01. With its Vintner's Reserve Syrah, Kendall-Jackson may have benefitted more than most from this uniform excellence, as it draws the grapes for this offering from geographically dispersed but well-established Syrah vineyards across California. This wine offers a lushly textured palate of bright cherry, spice, vanilla and bacon-smoke one expects from fine Syrah. But what closes the deal is the almost Pinot Noir-like nose, contributed by the small amounts of Carignane and Petit Sirah. At such a reasonable price, this offering should be this season's red wine of choice for spring lamb, grilled poultry and meat-based pasta sauces.

Also very good is the 2001 Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Syrah, which is fruity up from with a tannic kick and a hint of white pepper on the finish.

Stylish fruit and lovely balance in this mildly scented, complex white wine. The fruit is more citrussy than I have seen in the past, and the balance focuses more on the fruit than on oak. A nicely crafted effort.

Merlot comes across with plenty of life and more complexity than found in earlier years. The juice was cold soaked and the wine macerated on the skins after fermentation. It was aged for 17 months in small oak with 12% new barrels. Pretty in the glass, it shows assertive cherry and blackberry fruit, along with notes of cedar and spice. Medium-bodied, the flavours echo the aroma but are carried by cassis and definite soft tannins. Unlike so many cookie cutter, overly juicy Merlots in this price range, this one can be enjoyed now, or cellared for 3-4 years.

Peach, green apple, and melon flavours with butterscotch and toasty oak.

Coastal winds infused this wine with a taste of the sea, with floral scents of thyme and honey, with a sea-salt rasp of minerals. It's tightly wound, but the flavors play out complex and long. Decant a bottle for a roast halibut.

A mineral tone runs through it, focusing the wine's citrus flavors on a bitter orange note, lengthening the more austere structural elements of the finish over a buttery warmth. Match its coastal minerality with grilled fish.

There's an intriguing umami character to this Chardonnay, running parallel to the flavor of seared salmon trout with chanterelles the wine is made to match. The texture is viscous and firm, the flavors dry and lasting, a warm, austere take on biscuits, buttermilk and pineapple.

Packed with alcohol, this blows like a wind from the sea, giving immediate pineapple flavors, then it's gone. It's big and succulent while it lasts, a meal in itself, with sauerbraten or baked country ham.

In the middle, this wine feels clean and relatively austere, the leesiness of its structure balancing simple, lemon-tinged citrus flavors. Then it stays structured even as it turns sweeter in the end, finishing with the flavor of maple sugar candy. That caramelization will match roast halibut in a butter and lemon sauce.

It may have a big batch of Merlot in its makeup, but this rich, ripe wine smells very much like a very good Cabernet. Its black cherry fruit tinged with olivey and sweet rooty, loamy notes leads to a very solid, supple wine in the mouth. Its ending tannin asks but a few years of cellaring

Dry in the middle, with mineral and oak tones that combine into puff pastry scents. Then it's sweeter in the end, as the gentle finish turns toward butter almond flavor, a butter sauce for salmon steak.