2006 Turley Zinfandel (Juvenile)

Well, this was a burly 15%ABV Zin from the woman who, arguably, transformed the California (red) wine industry by introducing lush, modern fruit-bruiser bottlings. Still, this was more rustic than I expected, but had the classic briar-patch fruit and light white pepper one expects in a good Zin. And despite the alcohol, it was never hot, although the "spice" under-tones could easily have been the afterburn of a young, potent Zin. Still, we liked it. 89/100.
Bottom line: Good Zin, not great, if you can find it. A wine for fans of rustic Zinfandel.

2007 Jaffurs Santa Barbara County (Syrah)

From an apparently "care-free vintage" as Jaffurs put it in a recent interview, this Syrah was absolutely gorgeous and yes, huge. This is their general appellation bottle, and it positively throttled us with its lovely blueberry cream/cobbler scents and palate, but yet it has the tell-tale savory sweetness of Syrah and the white pepper after-scents you might expect from a good northern Rhone. Between this and the CdePape (reviewed below), have to give this wine the nod for the match with the leg of lamb we enjoyed Xmas Eve.

And frankly, for $24 (thanks Marc!), this was an absolute steal. It was punching well above its weight class.

95/100

Bottom line: A great, reasonably-priced California Syrah. If you can find it, you're nuts not to buy it.