The highlight of my trip to Santa Barbara County was a visit to Stoplman Vineyards and their estate courtesy of Peter Stolpman, son of the founding partner, Tom Stolpman. Peter is managing partner and his wife, Jessica, who has an extensive wine background, is partner as well. Their property is a 220 acre plot with 153 acres planted in the Ballard Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara County. Shannon, my best friend and trusty driver, and I managed to get slightly lost on the way up to their gorgeous hilltop estate and even more lost on the way out. We were warmly greeted by Peter and escorted to his backyard which is home to a lovely outdoor patio, grass for the dogs to run around on, and vines beginning a stone’s throw from the patio. Sangiovese vines are the closest to the house and one can view the hillsides with new Mourvedre vines directly facing the yard. Peter poured an array of their offerings beginning with their Roussannes. First was a 2014 estate Roussanne which I loved enough to purchase and transport home. The grapes for this production were hand rotated in order to ensure that the grapes would receive an even “suntan.” I found this to be a voluptuous Roussane, with an incredible full body, lemony zest and floral accents that were set off by integrated oak notes that came from the 500L new French oak puncheons in which the juice was fermented and aged. Directly after, we tasted the 2013 L’Avion Roussanne which was also lovely, and had a bit more zip to it as it was blended with 15% Chardonnay to provide a nice acid backbone. L’Avion smelled of honeysuckle and tasted like a luscious citrus and tropical fruit salad.
The next super fun and interesting tasting was of what I call their “Sangiovese two ways.” First was the Carbonic Sangiovese from the 2015 vintage and this was followed immediately by their traditional 2013 Ballard Canyon Sangiovese. The interesting thing about this pair is that the Sangiovese grapes for both were grown on the same vine. They used a quad trellising system such that there were two canes with fruit on the front of the vine that were able to receive more sun exposure as the canes were not under the canopy of leaves. Directly behind these canes were two additional canes that were shaded from the sun by the leaves of the vine. Here’s a pic to illustrate the system.
Notice the front, more visible canes that extend out to the left and right of the midline. This is where the grapes for the Carbonic Sangiovese grew. If you are not familiar with Carbonic fermentation, it is the method most often associated with the production of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau in southern Burgundy. The process involves placing entire grape clusters into a fermenting tank and allowing the weight of the grapes on top to crush those below. This releases the juice and fermentation begins, initiated by native yeasts that exist on the grape skins. Once the fermentation begins, carbon dioxide is released and covers the grapes on the top of the tank and fermentation begins inside these grapes. This type of fermentation produces very characteristic aromas and flavors, namely bubblegum and banana. If you have had Beaujolais, you will recognize them as familiar. The Carbonic Sangiovese had all of the characteristic scents and flavors, but had noticeably higher tannins than one would find in a Beaujolais. This is to be expected as Sangiovese is a much more tannic grape than Gamay, which is the grape of Beaujolais. Their Ballard Canyon Sangiovese was a more typical Sangiovese with firm tannins, nice acidity and flavors of cherry and tea.
Syrah, Petit Sirah and a “Para Maria Red” which was a blend developed in partnership with the Stolpman vineyard manager, Ruben Solorzano, followed. Ruben and his crew are employed full-time and Ruben resides on the property with his family. Each member of his crew is given a 2 acre “quadra” to manage independently in order to perfect and practice their preferred methods of cultivation. Each year, grapes from their “quadra” are blended to produce a line of wines called “La Quadrilla,” and the members get to share in the profits of the wines sold. The Stolpmans advocate for “sustainable employment” in this way of growing the knowledge of their crew and having them share in the profits.
And finally, we met the vineyard dogs….Elsa, who lives with the Solorzano family, and the astounding Great Dane puppy, Earl, who lives with the Stolpmans. Earl, at 10 months old weighs 120 pounds and bounds around with infinite energy and enormous feet that suggest he will be even bigger for my next visit.
