The 2016 The Big Easy checks in as a blend of 57% Syrah, 31% Petite Sirah, and 12% Grenache brought up in French and American oak (61% new). It's always an uber-ripe, pleasure-bent effort and the 2016 is no exception, although it has a beautiful weightlessness and elegance about it as well. Blackcurrants, camphor, scorched earth, licorice, and spice notes all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, delicious red that packs ample fruit and texture. Don't age it, drink it.

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. - Erin Brooks