2014 Stolpman Vineyards Hilltops Syrah Ballard Canyon Santa Barbara 750 ml

Like the greatest ideas, Stolpman’s Hilltops Syrah seemed wacky at first. To start, Tom Stolpman rolled the dice by planting Syrah in the limestone-strewn hillsides of Santa Barbara’s Ballard Canyon—placing a wild bet on what many now deem to be the most precious site for the variety on California’s coast. Then, Stolpman winemaker Sashi Moorman wanted to experiment with one of the highest perches on the property, and insisted they replant at triple their standard density: 3,000 vines per acre. 

The idea came straight from the Northern Rhône slopes of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, where the densely packed, dry-farmed vineyards pit vine against vine in a contest of survival. The high-density clusters would produce tiny berries with a high skin-to-juice ratio, making for Syrah of greater richness and phenolic complexity. All that sounded pretty good to Tom Stolpman—with the exception of the farming cost, which would likely double. But Tom was a man of vision, and after weighing the costs and benefits, he adopted the protocol. The result was one of the most audacious Syrah plantings in California, and it’s captured in every vintage of Stolpman Hilltops Syrah. 

Tom’s son Pete is running the show now, and he shares his father’s foresight: For a decade, he’s been laying down cases of Hilltops so their mailing list members could have a shot at cellared bottles. But today, thanks to our tight relationship with Stolpman, we’ve managed to secure an unprecedented back-vintage allocation for Wine Access members. 

This is a perfectly aged iteration of one of the defining Syrahs of Santa Barbara County—a wine that’s glorious in its youth, but adds depth, density, and complexity with age. The 2014 is now showing hard-earned crimson reflections, and is awash in aromas of black plum, crushed blackberry, and blueberry enveloped in licorice, wild violet, dried herbs, white pepper, incense, and wild game. It’s got beautiful volume and direction on the palate, which fades on a finish with very fine texture and aromatic composition. 

This bottle costs $48 at the winery, and delivers more fascination and complexity than anyone would expect at that price. Our allocation comes straight from the Stolpman cellars, we’ve got it today for just $30. An unprecedented wine for a truly unprecedented price.

Stolpman has parlayed their commitment to Syrah into wines of elegance, detail, and finesse, and none show it better than Hilltops. They harvest from only the best hillside sections of the estate, and after the fruit goes into open-top concrete tanks, they go to the extraordinary length of treading the grapes by foot—a step that ensures that only free-run juice goes into the wine. They then age the Syrah in large 500-liter barrels that are mostly neutral in flavor, which allows the fruit, and all its limestone minerality, to shine through.

This is a wine we’re stocking up on ourselves to enjoy all winter long—we can’t think of anything that will be more perfect with friends, family, and a prime rib roast than a perfectly aged Syrah. It’s blossoming with all the aromatics that made the Stolpmans’ hilltop gambit worth it. At a price that makes it painless to open multiple bottles, and it’s a surefire winner to last the next several years.