definitely a wine designed for drinking rather than long-term keeping, sports plenty of well-defined fruit and a few fancy oak extras.

Good grip with rich blackberry and cassis flavors and a touch of vanillin oak.

Generous toasty oak notes accent herb, olive and berry flavors, with tart tannins. Drink now through 2006.

K-J's are the wines wine snobs love to hate because they are so hugely popular. You can't, after all, be a snob if you drink what everyone else is drinking. But Jess Jackson deserves a lot of credit. Most owners, having created what must be the best-selling brand in wine history, would have succumbed to the temptation to shave quality, bump up the price and pocket the cash. Jackson, though, has done the reverse, raising the quality of his flagship Vintner's Reserve line while holding the price. So kudos to him for making a fine-drinking California cab at a decent price.

dry, full-bodied, heavy tannin, high acidity. Consistently solid, with juicy berry and slight green-pepper flavors that show why K-J's Vintner's Reserve Cabernet is so popular.

Bright, plum-berry fruit, round with light tannin; delivers fine berry flavours.

Smells forward and ripe, with wild-berry, bramble, and blueberry aromas and an array of crushed, dusty Oriental spices. On the palate, it's awkward, somewhat hot, with 15% alcohol and some over-ripe, raisiny flavors that are Port-like. Some, however, will go nuts over this style.

Raspberry, pepper, clove and brown spices sing out in this densely packed flavor package. The tannins, however, are silky and user friendly; it's spicy and briary enough to let you know it's zin but balanced enough to easily stand up to food without overpowering it. Serious stuff.

Full-bodied dry red wine; medium deep magenta. Aromas and flavors of crushed dark fruits blackberries and black plums. Rich concentrated and well-knit. Tannins from fruit, big "guy wine" but balanced, well-structured. Alcohol about 15 percent, but not hot thanks to ripe fruit. Oak well-handled. Ageable.

This full-bodied red offers up a dollop of ripe plum and raspberry and ample black-pepper spice.

Medium bodied, it's relatively lean for a zinfandel but very flavorful and spicy.

Scents of raspberry fill this juicy, sweet zin, a simple red to serve with a slight chill.

Round and simple, with plum flavors.

A restrained style, showing pepper, cherry, raspberry, and tea notes, finishes with smooth tannins.

Pleasant, light cherry-berry aromas are joined on the palate by a touch of cream vanilla oak. A touch of cranberry-like acidity brings some tartness to the finish.

K-J's signature ripe, ripe fruit was definitely on display here. Intense plum-berry flavors with undertones of chocolate filled the mouth; on the nose, however, were not so pleasant musty, wet wool aromas.

One chef called this great food wine, particularly if paired with smoked quail and dried cherries.

Low-keyed, but fairly correct in aroma with oak-accented notes of berries its essential theme, this simple, relatively straightforward Zin counts cleanliness and good balance among its major virtues.

The straightforward, medium-bodied, berry-scented and flavored…

The wine reveals attractive fruit and softness on the attack…

Pleasant and soft-textured, with a modest range of raspberry and wild berry flavors, finishing with integrated tannins.

Bright blackish purple hue. Moderately full-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted. Mildly oaked. Moderately tannic. Black fruits, vanilla. Carries an oaky nuance on the nose, and merges with a nice fruit-centered core of flavors. Lighter in style, with some hefty tannins toward the finish.

…is a smoky, soft, simple yet pleasant offering with the grape's lively, briery character displayed in a straightforward manner.

What lacks in power it makes up for with finesse. Lean and soft, it has bright aromas and flavors of black cherry and black pepper.

"Toasty cola and black cherry notes surface despite a hollow core. Backed by somewhat rough-edged tannins." (also appeared in the June '98 issue)