The 2009 Reserve Merlot (100%) was aged in French and American oak for 8 months. It offers up an aromatic array of cinnamon, clove, incense, tobacco, black currant, and blackberry. In the glass it reveals layered fruit, spicy flavors, good volume, and excellent balance. This surprisingly rich Merlot can be approached now and will provide pleasure for another 4-5 years. It is an excellent value. Santa Ema has been a reliable source of value priced wines for a number of years. Importer: TGIC Importers, Woodland Hills, CA; www.tgicimporters.com

Minty spice and vanilla are the lead aromas on this heavily oaked Merlot. There’s also raw wood grain and clove to the nose. Full-bodied in the mouth, with overt creamy notes and then woody, spicy, fruit flavors. The fruit is generic and hidden; the pressing oak just the opposite. ——M.S.(12/1/2011)—— 85

Cocoa/chocolate nuances; blackcurrant and cassis, smooth texture, some elegance, lengthy;Importer: Woodland Hills, CA

A creamy, faux-smelling-and-tasting wine with loads of bogus oak character and limited stuffing or quality backing it up. Smells like a berry marshmallow or county fair cotton candy, yet the palate is hollow and sour. A masked wine that’s trying to be tricky and isn’t. ——M.S.(2/1/2011)—— 82