Nicely full-flavored, with herbs and good acidity. Big yet restrained. Easy to drink.

This is an inexpensive, easy way to find out why people go nuts over Zinfandel. K-J's 05 Zin is an exotic perfume of cherries, raspberries, chocolate and white pepper, followed by ripe, fruity, spicy flavors and dusty tannins, and a finish that coats the throat.

Sometimes, bigger is better. Kendall-Jackson's 2005 California Vintner's Reserve Zinfandel is a real surprise. It has just enough Zin - 76% - to be legally called Zin. The rest is made up from Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Those additional grapes add up to a delicious bottle of wine with a great deal more complexity than is usual at the price.

A good food zin on the lighter side. Brambly, with notes of black cherry, strawberry, cherry and plum.

Does just what VR does across all varieties, offering up a ripe, varietally true Zin that's all about upfront fruit and spice. Finishes with a scour of dusty tannins.

A mix of grapes and diverse growing regions keeps this wine cool juicy and sleek, with black cherry, black olive, blueberry and spice.

...the Kendall-Jackson is one gorgeous zinfandel, layered with rich berry flavors, peppery spice and caressing oak, but not so much wood to keep the fresh fruit from playing the leading role.

Spicy aromas, with red raspberry flavors. Moderate oak. Medium-complexity. Medium-bodied. Soft, easy texture.

Brambly berry character, pepper and spice that first attracted me to zinfandel.

Plenty of good quality zinfandel from a major player in California.

delivers a full measure of well-defined berryish fruit in a smooth and polished package.

Very good value if you like your zin with forward, ripe flavors. The palate includes raspberries, chocolate and spice.

An all around lighter look at Zinfandel, this ripe, rounded, nicely balanced bottling brings together a bit of varietal berries with a modest sprinkling of vanillin oak. Hardly memorable but entirely useful, it makes the grade as an affordable foil to highly-piled platters of barbecued ribs.

Drawing fruit from cool Mendocino County, this wine is a real mouthful of raspberry / blackberry fruit. Full throttle zing with a long and fruity finish. Nice oak frame.

Drawing fruit from cool Mendocino County, this wine is a real mouthful of raspberry/blackberry fruit. Full throttle zing with a long and fruity finish. Nice oak frame.

With grapes from the cooler Mendocino region, K-J has a rich and multi-dimensional zinfandel with good body. It is blended with petite sirah, grenache and carignane and comes from old vines.

Black cherry and dark chocolate flavors, rich and smooth.

Scents of pear, melon and nectarine. A pleasant roundness on the palate.

Soft, and generous with its spicy pear and pepper flavors, harmonious and frankly sweet on the finish.

Limes, ginger, apples. A fine focused component dominates this soft quaffer with a well balanced finish.

Aromatic, spicy, citrus-peel, with forward floral notes; medium floral-lichee flavors; excellent balance; full finish. Good with sesame chicken or chicken salad.

With pear-like aromas, this citrus-oriented effort shows some appeal as a refreshing, very faintly spicy quaff. Noticeable sugars are balanced by spry acidity throughout.

Bright and refreshing, simple, revealing pleasant pear and spice flavors.