Pretty notes of peach, pear and creme brulee define the likeable aromas here, and sweet peach qualities continue as the central theme of this slick, medium-full-bodied wine's uncomplicated, mildly sugary flavors as well. Very frontal and wanting a bit more fruity depth to ensure successful aging, this is very much a wine for the present.

The least expensive of the Kendall-Jackson siblings is the most successful insofar as value is concerned. Its clean-as-can-be delivery of simple, lightly candied fruitiness and sweet oak..."will work...tasty.

Here is a rich but uneven wine that counts sweet, slightly tropical fruit and a big dose of oak among its assets, but its stiff latter-palate acidity stands in direct contrast to its softer, slightly fat beginnings. A wine of a few too many seams just now, it makes no guarantees that age will bring the integration that it so clearly lacks.

A complicated wine with two separate personalities. First, it shows some of the greener aspects of Santa Maria Pinot, edging forward with scents of fennel, anise, roasted carrots, yams. . .as if an unformed mash of holiday flavors. Then there's the raspberry side, the brightness of color developing into a bright fruit flavor as it gives up the initial blackness. The fruit yields from an espresso-like tannin, intense & impacted, growing ever more powerful in the glass. Give this several years in the cellar to resolve & it should prove fascinating (1200 cases).

Big & juicy with berry & a hint of black pepper. Needs time for the generous oak to integrate.

"Elegant, with some interesting aromas and flavors: jasmine tea, apricot, nectarine and toasted oak. Long Finish.

6% Cabernet Franc. Hints of clay, pencil lead, loam & spice fill out the moderately concentrated, black cherry & ripe plum character at the center of this medium-depth offering. Alcohol & a bit of toughening tannin detract at the finish, but the wine needs only savory foods & a few years in the cellar to be at its enjoyable best.

Its well-oaked, lightly leesy, ripe-melon aromas indicate a wine of size and substance, and such is precisely the case with this big, mouthfilling Sauvignon. For all of its very obvious extract, however, it has a harder, slightly citric toughness in the latter (quote not complete)

Soft, juicy, ripe, a little on the plain side as to varietal character but quite presentable, this wine tastes slightly sweet...

Same vineyard (as Claudia Springs 1998 Eagle Point Ranch Zinfandel), different producer, making for an interesting comparison. There's 19% Syrah and 5% Petite Syrah blended into this wine, which is succulent and delicious, with spicy, lively fruit leading the way. There's enough acid to give it structure and balance, but not so much that the wine seems edgy or sour.

Eagle Point Vineyard. There's 19% Syrah & 5% Petite Sirah blended in, making for a succulent wine, with spicy, lively fruit leading the charge. There's enough acid to give it structure & balance, but not so much that the wine seems edgy or sour. Full bodied, mouthfilling, flavorful & distinctive.

Mendocino Ridge. More of that mountain intensity with very ripe fruit buttressed with spicy, mineral elements. Brambly, briary & spicy, leading into a fleshy, round, ripe, soft middle & a long, fruity finish. Good right now.

Zeni Vineyard. Tanic, alcoholic nose with a softer, rosier color tending toward brick. Old vines, soft, sweet, ancient flavors. The wine feels a little bit pushed - the alcohol is too high & the finish is harsh, tannic and hot.

Smooth style, with lots of vanilla cream and ripe berry fruit. Forward, inviting style of wine, with light tannins and a clean, focused finish. It's well balanced and professionally made...

Concentrated, brawny, with almost viscous flavors of chocolate, dried fruit & smoke lingering on the tannic finish.

Intense & lively, with sweet, jammy, raisiny black cherry, wild berry & nutty Sherry-like flavors that push the envelope in ripeness, finishing with some heat. Label indicates a credible 17.5% alcohol. Drink now through 2006. 275 cases made.

Dark, rich, chocolaty and still firmly tannic, with ripe cherry, herb and dusty cedar notes, touches of mineral and metallic flavors.

...intense fruity flavors. Sense the tropical fruit, apple, citrus and melon aromas and flavors. This Chardonnay has a crisp, lingering finish...

Bright tropical fruit nose and flavors, toasty oak, rich and round in the mouth. Very exotic.

Controversial. Some said it has sexy aromas with juicy plum on the palate. Others thought it hot and over-ripe

Rich, sassy and pleasurable, with ripe fruit. Great texture and good balance...

Julia's Vinyard. Smelling faintly of old wood & dried brush, this stolid, soft wine is clean enough, but its full, low energy flavors carry only the barest evidences of Pinot fruit & offer almost nothing of real pleasure.

Creamy oak is impossible to overlook in both the nose and flavors of this substantial Chardonnay, but sweet, gala-apple fruitiness is the wine's lodestar, and that attractive fruit persists despite a bit of late-arriving coarseness. Very well-made, this one gets better with a year or two of keeping.

Sharp at first, then airing into a well-mannered pinot, tight and cleanly fruited with raspberry flavors and the caramel tones of oak. Simple for now, though this should evolve more flavor complexity with time.