Fess Parker's 2016 The Big Easy is made up of 57% Syrah, 31% Petite Sirah and 12% Grenache. Opaque ruby-purple, it has a nose of fried herbs, garrigue, beef drippings, toasted coconut and an impenetrable core of dense black and blue fruit preserves. It's a full-bodied, beefy monster in the mouth, with loads of ripe fruit and spices and firm, chewy tannins, lacking just a bit in freshness.

A rich, port-like red with no hard edges, the 2015 The Big Easy offers up an inky nose of plum preserve, fruit liqueur and fig. On the palate, it's rich, velvety and full-bodied, though it remains dry on the finish despite its lashings of sweet fruit. This 2015 is a blend of 69% Syrah, 18% Petite Sirah, 11% Grenache and 2% Mourvèdre.

A blend of 74% Syrah, 16% Petite Sirah and 10% Grenache, the deep garnet-purple colored 2014 The Big Easy has pronounced plum preserves, baked blueberries and spice box notes with hints of rare beef, charcoal and coffee. Very big, full-bodied and packed with fruit, the generously endowed palate has a firm line of chewy tannins and ample freshness to support, finishing long and spicy. It’s not for the fainthearted, and nicely done to this style.

Flamboyantly ripe raspberry, cherry and blackberry fruit marks this Syrah, a blend drawn from several vineyards throughout the county. The wine contains smaller amounts of Petite Sirah and Grenache, giving it a rich, tannic complexity.——S.H.(4/1/2012)—— 89

The 2008 Syrah The Big Easy is a large-scaled, jammy wine bursting with plums, blueberry jam and French oak. It shows excellent up-front richness and power, but then loses some intensity on the mid-palate and finish. The Big Easy is 78% Syrah and 22% Petit Syrah that spent 22 months in French and American oak, 40% new. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2016. This line up from Fess Parker is impressive. A number of the higher-end wines are delicious, but I was most struck by the quality of several of the estate’s entry-level offerings. These are some of the very finest values in California.Tel. (800) 841-1104; www.fessparker.com