Ruben's Block Syrah 2016
Background
Grape Whisperer Ruben Solorzano planted his block in 2006 amidst much fanfare and conjecture. Bottom line: 6,000 Syrah vines crammed into onto one beautiful cliff-side, dangling above Ballard Creek. Ruben farms his block without tractors or other modern-day conveniences. Each vine yields just two tiny, concentrated Syrah clusters – what we call – Ruben’s Block.
Vintage
The mellow 2016 vintage gave us the luxury of strategy and planning. We pounced on a beautiful full-moon to hand-harvest Ruben’s Block. Our most prized fruit, we then sorted every cluster, the yellowing stems stayed intact while the green stems were separated from their precious, tiny grapes. No doubt, 2016 is the best vintage of Rubens Block yet.
Sensory
A revelatory wine. Remove the cork, decant, and be one with this wine through an evening. Adjectives fall short to describe the evolution of rich layers and coating, decadent dark fruits. Even at our most hedonistic, there is still a youthful spark of pure Stolpman. A wine for the truly self-actualized connoisseur.