About Stolpman Vineyards
Tom and Marilyn Stolpman founded this Central Coast winery in 1990. The dry-farmed vineyard plantings here are one of the great viticultural stories of California...
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92(+?) Points | International Wine Cellar , November/December 2010
($38) Inky ruby. An intensely perfumed nose displays cassis, boysenberry, spicecake and a touch of cracked pepper. Penetrating dark berry flavors possess very good depth but are vivacious as well, with an exotic violet pastille quality emerging with aeration. Becomes livelier and spicier with air and finishes with impressive clarity and tangy persistence. Give this juicy, spicy midweight at least a couple more years of bottle age.
88 Points | Wine Spectator
92 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
Member Notes
Older is better
06/01/2011
by Heffernan14008650
Strong, complex flavors that do not disappear after the second glass.
01/16/2011
by Pleman13827194
Old Vine. Full body but very smooth. Wonderful
01/15/2011
by Pleman13827194
The "Old Vines" really make this delicious wine. Full bodied,
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01/10/2011
by ml12577488
Dark purple. Really wild aromas. We would have been happy never even drinking this. Could have just smelled it for a few hours. But the flavors just imitated the aromas -- big, rich, all you could ever want in a Syrah. Thanks WineAccess for introducing us to Stolpman. Is there more?
Fab Find
11/16/2010
by barbee12656624
lush, rich bittersweet chocolate. silky smooth on the pallet. years to come richness. please let me know if you get more!
Sashi excellence
11/08/2010
by Facca11452025
The wines of Stolpman are right up there with the absolute best Syrah's in the world!
Stolpman Review
11/13/2010
by Meredith13932857
A classic Syrah taste.The wine is full bodied and clean.A great value.
Predictable and Excellent . . .
03/18/2013
by Capell13024865
Rich and clean. Full of deep fruit flavors with balancing acidity. And it was entirely enjoyable, but a bit boring. Wine should be exciting and ALIVE! This was delicious and modern, but neither exciting or alive. Like a Picasso painted by number. Chopin by a 9th grader. Delicious - more delicious than so many other California Syrahs - but predictable . . . expected. Not insipid like a 13 dollar Australian Shiraz, but expected, a known quantity. I'll give it that it had the misfortune of following two weeks after a scrumptious Northern Rhone Syrah. I can't say it was less than the French wine, but it aimed for a different standard, and I found that standard to be clean and smooth where the Rhone was complex and challenging. Both rich with deep dark fruit up front, but the Stolpman went down smooth and made me want another gulp, while the Rhone asked me to linger and hold my breath for a moment, which is more my style. I feel like this was a wonderful wine that wasn't quite my style, but is still good nonetheless.
Lots of potential, wait at least a few years.
12/15/2011
by Capell13024865
Deep and rich, but undrinkably young at this point. Fresh, wild fruits and herbs were fighting with Diesel and rubbing alcohol. A long finish, but unfortunately any mineral length could not come through the astringency of the alcohol heat. Hopefully a couple of years in the cellar will tame this beast.
ok
10/25/2011
by Farac13816880
i bought this along with a Beckmen 2009 syrah. did not like this one as much.
Alicia's Review
06/27/2011
by syrah12195485
I think the wine is good for the price
too oaky
06/21/2011
by Mickalide12188669
I got no fruit just toasted barrel.
undrinkable now, and for a long time to come
02/08/2011
by Brockway13466037
This Syrah is undrinkable as it stands. It needs ten years in the cellar, at least Its finish on opening, letting it stand, air, and sip was unmentionable, harsh like varnish or diesel oil.
This is the first wine from you that I believe was terribly oversold, overstated.
I don't mind if you tell me that the wine needs ten years. I have a cellar and can wait and I usually do. But this sludge was a nasty surprise.
I'm going to wait a long time before ordering again. I think you may have tipped the barrel, oveselling this one, and it was unwise to this wine drinker.
About California
It is remarkable that an industry essentially less than a half-century old could capture the attention of the American wine-buying public to the degree that California has. Powerful consumer interest in California wine is driven by two major factors. The more obvious reason is that California's best wines, which come from grapes grown in...
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Syrah
While the grape is currently grown throughout the world, the most elegant Syrahs still come from the Northern Rhone valley, particularly the appellations of Côte Rôtie, Cornas, and Hermitage. Here, steep, terraced vineyards help produce full-bodied, intense, tannic wines loaded with white pepper and red fruit. In the vineyard, Syrah is largely cooperative- vines are productive, but not overly vigorous. Skins are thick, helping the grape...
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