Stolpman Vineyards, "Love You Bunches" Carbonic Sangiovese, Santa Barbara, California, 2021

Overview of the Wine
Stolpman Vineyards was founded by husband and wife team Tom & Marilyn Stolpman. On their honeymoon in Napa Valley, Marilyn put the wild idea into Tom’s head about one day owning a vineyard. In 1988 their search for limestone near the ocean ended with the purchase of what is now Stolpman Vineyards in Ballard Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara County. In 1994, Ruben “the Grape Whisperer” and his wife Maria Solorzano became the vineyard managers at Stolpman – employing a year-round team and empowering them through mentorship and a profit sharing program. Tom’s son Peter joined the family business in 2009 after working for a reputable wine distributor. Since he joined the team, he took back the majority of the vineyard for wine production rather than selling the grapes. He also helped increase Ruben’s La Cuardilla profit sharing program for the vineyard workers to 10% of all Stolpman production. Stolpman Vineyards’ story is reminiscent of the early pioneers of American winegrowing. They started with a dream of cultivating land with their family, included all of those who maintain the land into the family, and produce world class wine initially through trial and error and evolving to hone their skills through collaboration.

You can look at Stolpman Wines in the following categories…

Stolpman Estate’s flagship wines are the Sauvignon Blanc, the Uni White Blend, and the archetypal Syrah. In addition to these wines, the La Cuadrilla program – which was developed as a small program to engage their year-round vineyard team to take ownership on one block of vines and has now grown to a profit-sharing program that represents 10% of the total production.

So Fresh wines include the Love You Bunches lineup & Crunchy Rôastie Syrah. The grapes destined for these wines are natively fermented whole, un-crushed, for a delicately high-toned profile. Harvested early for lighter mouthfeel and higher acidity, wines go to bottle early to capture purity and freshness without added sulfur.

Grape / Blend
Sangiovese

Origin
Santa Barbara, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Serve cold! 2021 strikes a wonderful balance between the fleshier, warmer 2020 vintage and the more angular, high-toned 2018 and 2019 versions. Riper red berry fruit sings over the tart finish resulting in a pleasurable, quenching crunch. A perfected adult version of Sour Patch Kids candy. A floaty fleshiness develops by the second glass - which, by the way, arrives quickly - with some mellowing watermelon notes on the mid-palate.

Carbonic Fermentation doesn’t extract the Sangiovese’s tannin because the grapes ferment whole, uncrushed in a sealed tank.  Because we aren’t worried about under-ripe, coarse tannin; we can pick earlier, at lower sugar and rely on high, refreshing acidity for finishing balance in the absence of tannin.  Because we don’t need to wait for integration, we bottle the wine within a few months of harvest, locking in the fresh profile. 

Product size: 750ml