Winemaker Notes
Perhaps the strongest effort in Stolpman Vineyards' 10 year history of trying to harness the intensity of this unique planting. The 2017 Ruben's Block seems to be a most harmonious marriage of dense fruit purity and a wile Syrah "otherness." Underlying lushness coats the tannins towards the finish with a scrumptious halt. The wine is truly the whole package.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
If at first fairly brooding with a quiet sense of potency rather than
a Syrah marked by bluster, but one, that with coaxing, bit by bit
opens to show a wealth of deep, very pure blackberry fruit and
flashes of dark chocolate, gleanings of caramelized meat, a light
shading of pepper and a scant streak of stony soil, this weighty,
well-balanced, full-bodied offering buffers its youthful tannins
with fruity substance to spare. Though with an hour or so of time
in a decanter, it will satisfy those for whom patience comes hard,
but know that this is a collectable, eminently age-worthy Syrah
whose promise will not begin to be realized until a minimum of
another half-decade has passed.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Named after the vineyard manager and two-thirds destemmed, the 2017 Syrah Ruben's Block spent a full 28 months all in neutral oak prior to bottling. This ripe, sexy wine has rocking blue fruits as well as lots of peppery herbs, meat, crushed stone and sappy flower aromas and flavors. It's one of the more textured, seamless wines in the lineup and has beautiful balance as well as a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Syrah Ruben's Block Estate comes from own-rooted vines planted at high density and trained in the style of Côte-Rôtie. It has a medium to deep ruby-purple color and lovely scents of fresh violets, aniseed, bergamot and mint leaves with tar-laced blackcurrant fruits. The palate is medium to full-bodied and packed with perfumed fruits in a very fresh, finely grained frame, finishing long.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Accounting for only ten percent of the greater Santa Ynez AVA, Ballard Canyon’s north-south orientation provides an ideal pattern of sunshine and martime fog for producing excellent Syrah. While Syrah is planted to half of the total AVA acreage, an additional third is dedicated to other Rhône varieties, red and white.