Syrah

1998 Monterra Syrah, Monterey ($14). This lush, ripe red wine is a good approximation of the style of the fine wines of France's Rhone Valley. Quite full-bodied, it offers generous flavors of blackberry, chocolate, herbs and smoked meat. Its lush, soft texture makes it immediately appealing, but there's plenty of tannic backbone to keep it developing for five to 10 years. Serve with hearty red meat or pasta dishes.

This artful blend of zinfandel, grenache, syrah, merlot and other red varietal is simply a very pleasant experience. The mix proves to be harmonious, and each variety seems to play its part perfectly. There's the power and earthiness of the zin, the broad shoulders of the syrah, the exuberant fruit of the grenache and the soft elegance of the merlot. The cherry and blackberry flavors are intense and penetrating but not harsh. It's a model of balance. It just goes to show that while the soil is crucial, the skill of the winemaker is important too. A big bonus is that Kendall-Jackson wines are widely available.

This plump, ripe, well-rounded red wine offers excellent value and approachability for a California syrah. Its intense flavors of blackberry, herbs and chocolate coat the palate, but its tannins are soft - making aging a choice rather than a requirement. Serve with lamb, game, stews.

From: California Price: $14 Serve with: Pasta dishes, grilled meat This lush, ripe blend of zinfandel, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot is all about decadent pleasure. It's one of those smooth red wines that is so fruity it gives the impression of sweetness without being sweet. There's a lot of berry action - black, blue and wild - and hints of chocolate and coffee. There's no point in sitting on it. Drink now.  

This voluptuous, ripe, full-bodied red wine displays a smooth, silky texture and intense flavors of plums, blackberries and chocolate. It's a good amalgam of traditional Rhone Valley style and California ripeness. While good now, it will certainly develop over five to seven years. Serve with beef, lamb, chili.

From: California Price: $14 Serve with: Pasta dishes, grilled meat This lush, ripe blend of zinfandel, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot is all about decadent pleasure. It's one of those smooth red wines that is so fruity it gives the impression of sweetness without being sweet. There's a lot of berry action - black, blue and wild - and hints of chocolate and coffee. There's no point in sitting on it. Drink now.  

This artful blend of zinfandel, grenache, syrah, merlot and other red varietal is simply a very pleasant experience. The mix proves to be harmonious, and each variety seems to play its part perfectly. There's the power and earthiness of the zin, the broad shoulders of the syrah, the exuberant fruit of the grenache and the soft elegance of the merlot. The cherry and blackberry flavors are intense and penetrating but not harsh. It's a model of balance. It just goes to show that while the soil is crucial, the skill of the winemaker is important too. A big bonus is that Kendall-Jackson wines are widely available.

1999 Equus Syrah, Paso Robles ($18). The syrah grape is continuing to flourish in California as better vineyard sites are found and more wineries get the hang of this classic red-wine grape. This Central Coast syrah from Wild Horse Vineyards is one of the more Rhonelike examples on the market, with generous blackberry and raspberry fruit and hints of plums, herbes de Provence and mint. Appealingly plump now, it has the underlying structure to age for a decade. The length and intensity are impressive.

1999 Montpellier Vineyards Syrah ($7). This California red wine won't dazzle you with its complexity, but it's off the charts in terms of value. It's chunky, ripe and bright -- without the roughness you often get from reds costing about this much. It offers straightforward black currant, blackberry and plum fruit in a medium-bodied style with a touch of smoked meat and herbs. This wine shows more of the true syrah character than most Australian shirazes (same grape). Serve this with hamburgers, pasta, grilled chicken, steaks or anything that will stand up to a flavorful red.

This full-bodied red wine serves up an abundance of flavor for a modest price. It's an easily accessible, ripe, chunky wine with bold flavors of blackberry, chocolate and herbs. It's not what you would call an elegant wine, but this is just right for a cold December evening. Think of port without the sweetness. 2006 Windmill Syrah From: Lodi, Calif. Price: $12 Serve with: Hearty winter stews, game

Vive la Difference! They were all Côtes du Rhônes. Red. Wonderful, but as different as night and day. The Domaine du Bois de St. Jean "L'Intrepide" Côtes du Rhône 2009 ($13) was a blockbuster. It reminded me of those expensive and exotic gourmet chocolate bars that combine peppercorns with cocoa beans or resinous herbs with cocoa beans. It was dense, supple and concentrated with a sun-dried cherry finish - plus pepper, herb and chocolate, of course. This was one for the books.

This is not your grandfather's kosher wine. This is, in fact, a great dry red wine that any host would be proud to serve to guests. It's a full-bodied, creamy-textured, complex wine with more maturity and character than most of the newly released reds on the market. There's plenty of lush, chewy blackberry and spice flavor, with a hint of chocolate. Does $25 seem high? If this were from California and hadn't been blessed by a rabbi, it would probably be fetching $40-$50. (For those who care, the wine isn't mevushal aka pasteurized — a good thing for wine quality, though it raises logistical issues for the observant.

2005 Diggers Bluff Stray Dog From: Barossa Valley, Australia Price: $15 Serve with: Barbecue, grilled steak This lively blend of the Rhone grapes syrah (shiraz), grenache and mourvedre (mataro) is a red wine with an Aussie swagger and rustic character. This full-bodied, well-rounded wine is packed with blackberry, leather, smoked-meat, chocolate and wild-berry flavors. It's perfect for drinking right now, and its freedom from cork taint is assured by a modern screw cap.

In a world of wimpy, thin merlots, this hearty example of the varietal certainly stands out -- especially at this price. It's a ripe, lush, dramatic red wine -- nothing elegant about it -- that rocks the palate with black-cherry, blackberry, chocolate and wild-game flavors. The alcohol level of 14 percent is well-concealed behind soft-textured fruit. One could object that it's as typical of syrah as merlot, but why quibble with a delicious, screw-cap-equipped wine that never will be tainted by a bad cork?