Medium to light red. Pretty, fragrant nose with herbs and anise. Middle weight with refined feel. Red fruit plus a twist of blood orange. Utterly drinkable and amazing value priced under $10.

Light red. Garrigue and candied fruit. Light weight. Darker red fruit, spice and licorice. Ripe but dry and savory with a tannic finish. Also quite good and spectacular value.

Dark ruby. Bootstrap black fruit nose speaks of Syrah. Thick, just short of syrupy palate with a one dimensional flavor that combines blackberry and graphite. Strong acidity. Not bad.

Medium ruby. Forward aromatics of flowers and fresh red fruit. Light and supple with good acidity, but in the mouth, herbs and lavender are more prominent than the fruit. Moderately short finish. This starts out better than it ends and while approachable, it is not as complete (at this level) as some of the preceding wines.

Saturated purple. Oh, this is really barnyardy. Nonetheless, lush entry, a mixture of red and black fruit and then a very tannic finish. Too tannic and too bretty. Too bad.

Dark core. French Syrah aromatics-violet and high toned thyme and fennel. Big wine but hardly viscous; in fact, pretty gritty texture. Lean black fruit, some brett, and a wave of herbs and tannin gives this a grippy, green finish. You can see its Cornas origins, and if you don't appreciate that sort of underlying structure, you're not likely to adore this wine. I much preferred the balance of some of the less expensive, less serious wines today.