This bottling has been a real success for Zaca Mesa. It’s a vibrantly fruity Syrah, packed with sweet cherries and blackberries, with a meaty, umami spiciness suggesting grilled bacon. Deliciously soft, it’s best consumed over the next few years.——S.H.(4/1/2012)—— 92

The 2007 Syrah Mesa Reserve was aged in new French oak for 26 months. With the most saturated ruby/purple color of all the Syrahs, the wine exhibits plenty of earth, blackberry, and cassis along with roasted herbs, pepper, and spice. It is the richest and deepest of the wines, and also the most backward. Give it another year of bottle age and drink it over the next decade. Tel. (800) 350-7972; Fax (805) 688-8796

Young and vigorous now, marked by tannins and dryness that mask the fruit, making the wine somewhat aloof. However, the fruit is huge. It’s ripe and succulent in blackberries and black cherries, and you’ll find additional notes of smoked meat and black pepper for complexity. A wonderful Syrah that needs 3–5 years to blossom. ——S.H.(3/1/2011)—— 92