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- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
93-94pt Stolpman Vineyards Library Collection
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Tom Stolpman wondered if his winemaker, Sashi Moorman, had lost his marbles. After taking a big gamble on the limestone-strewn hillsides of Ballard Canyon, planting Syrah in what many now deem to be the most fortuitous site for the variety on the coast, Stolpman’s jaw dropped. Moorman, while brilliant in the cellar, had a nasty habit of making Tom’s piggy bank squeal. For years, all of the Syrah planted at Stolpman Vineyards had been done at 1,000 vines per acre. Moorman wanted to triple the density on one of the highest and most precious perches of the property.
Sashi’s theory was drawn straight from the northern Rhône slopes of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. Vineyards planted to high density, particularly when dry-farmed, challenge each vine in a game of survival-of-the-fittest. Moorman reasoned that these high-density clusters would make for tiny berries of high skin-to-juice ratio, and Syrah of greater richness and phenolic complexity. The logic was sound — with the exception of the added farming cost. Almost all of the work on this proposed planting would have to be done by hand. Stolpman spent weeks weighing the pros and cons, and gambled a second time, adopting Moorman’s protocol to a T.
Over the last decade, only David Ramey, Joey Tensley, John Kongsgaard, and John Alban have fashioned more high-scoring Syrahs than Stolpman Vineyards. Like Ramey’s Rodgers Creek, the Stolpman “Hilltops,” while glorious in youth, continues to add girth, density, and complexity after several years in bottle. For that reason, beginning in 2010, Tom’s son Pete began laying down a few dozen cases of each vintage of “Hilltops” — offering these library bottles exclusively to the winery’s club membership.
Until today.
If you’re enamored of the sleekness and wildly concentrated purity of top-notch Syrah, Sashi Moorman’s “Hilltops” Syrah — particularly when perfectly cellared — is as close as California comes to the superstars of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage.
Fifty 6-packs of “Hilltops” Syrah — comprised of two bottles each of the 2010, 2011, and 2012 vintages — have been assembled exclusively for WineAccess. 93, 94, and 93 points respectively. Regularly $288. $210 today, shipping included.
P.S. Please play nicely and limit purchases to no more than two 6-packs per member; we’re trying to spread this one around.