Qupe Syrah - Stolpman Vineyard

91 Points (2005 Vintage)
"From one of the top sites in the Santa Ynez Valley, the dark ruby/purple-tinged 2005 Syrah Stolpman Vineyard boasts classic blackberry and cassis notes interwoven with licorice, smoke, and barbecued meat-like aromas. With excellent texture, superb purity, medium to full-bodied flavors, good underlying acidity, and ripe tannin, it will evolve for 10-12 years"
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90 Points (2004 Vintage)
Ruby-red. Enticing aromas of blackberry, smoked meat, licorice loamy earth. Juicy and densely packed, with a spicy quality to the penetrating fruit. Mounts impressively on the back end, finishing long and spicy, with a subtle sweetness. Youthfully tight but not hard.

2005 SYRAH “STOLPMAN VINEYARD”

This wine is 100% Syrah form the Stolpman Vineyard just west of Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley. Stolpman Vineyard is owned by Tom and Marilyn Stolpman and shares a fence line with Purisima Mountain Vineyard to its west. Stolpman has a slightly warmer aspect and a bit more limestone in the soil.

This is all Tablas clone 99 from their “super farmed” section. Clone 99 tends to yield bigger, blockier wines than other clones of syrah that we work with.

The grapes were harvested on the ripe side (25.5° brix) on October 12th with good acidity and pH. Traditional winemaking employed – destemmed, open top fermenter, manual punch downs, aging for 15 months in François Frères Burgundy barrels (20% new). 120 cases bottled without fining or filtration in February 2007.

This is the biggest of our 2005 Single Vineyard Selection Syrahs. Clone 99 gives more of a blackberry and anise character with an earthiness that separated its appeal. This wine will need a year or two to show its stuff but I don’t expect it to improve much beyond five or six years.

"...peppery ..."
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