2007 Syrah Kick Ranch Sonoma County

I tasted this year's set of wines with new winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave, who received a Diploma of Enology from the University of Bordeaux and also worked at Chateau Haut-Brion before taking the reins at Lynmar. She called 2008 "a lot of work for not much wine" due to the early spring frosts that plagued the region. Like most of her colleagues, she believes the 2008s will be best enjoyed before the 2007s, which she says "are showing their structure now and don't have the fruit appeal of the '08s." There has been an increased emphasis on the high-end here in recent vintages, but the timing of this evolution, given the economy, wasn't exactly propitious.