2007 Syrah Melville Vineyard

For a newcomer to winemaking (he was practically born in the vineyards and his bona fides for grape-growing are pretty well known by now), Chad Melville is demonstrating noteworthy precocity, as this year's set of wines demonstrates. Production of these wines is severely limited so the still-young Melville isn't afraid to "play around, experiment and explore different styles to find better grape and site expression." His personal tastes run to the traditionally made wines of Italy, Burgundy and the Rhone and he's fond of using whole clusters. He's also unafraid of high alcohol levels, but none of this year's releases go over 15.1%. The wines have weight and hints of warmth, which may not convince Old World diehards who obsess over stated alcohol levels, but as a group they are energetic and nicely focused. Melville is one of the many producers in the region now making increased use of 500-liter barrels.