California exploration: Stolpman Vineyards, Ballard Canyon
Website: https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/
The next stop on the California road trip was at Stolpman, with Peter Stolpman, who has been running this beautiful (and sizeable) vineyard since 2009. It was his father, Tom (who we briefly met) who is responsible for recognizing the potential of this area for high-quality viticulture, and then developing the vineyard in the early 1990s.
Back in the 1970s, Tom Stolpman, who was then in his late teens, was running a valet car parking service in the Hollywood Hills to help him through his studies at UCLA.
Doing this job, Tom met someone with a big Bordeaux collection who shared some of his wines with him. He realized that if he ordered a bottle of wine on a date then he wouldn’t get carded, and he went on a date and impressed his future wife, Marilyn, by doing exactly this.
He caught the wine bug. He got married, and took Marilyn to Napa for a honeymoon in 1974. Stolpman went on to become a lawyer, but by the time he decided he’d really like a vineyard in the late 1980s, Napa had become overvalued, so he started looking at the Central Coast. Inspired by Josh Jensen and his obsession with limestone, Stolpman decided that he wanted to find potential vineyard land with some limestone.
He found a site. There were big limestone boulders on the surface, and under the loamy clay top soil, it was just pure limestone: potentially a perfect site. At the time it was an unprofitable 220 acre cattle ranch. Tom tried buying this in 1988, but along came the Perrins, who were also looking for limestone soils to grow vines in, and they spilled the beans to the cattle rancher who owned the site that this was ideal vineyard land. The cattle rancher tried to get a bidding war started. Stolpman’s bravado, however, scared off the Perrins who went and discovered what is now Tablas Creek in Paso Robles. This all delayed things by a couple of years, but Stolpman eventually got the land he wanted in 1990, at a cost of $1.8 m, which looks like an insane bargain now. The area is called Ballard Canyon, and back then there were no other vineyards here. It’s now an AVA (since 2013), part of the larger Santa Ynez Valley AVA, and there are 17 wineries here, with 550 acres planted.
Stolpman’s 220 acre property now has 173 acres of vines. Planted started in 1992, with 18 different varieties. It was completed by 2000, then they have been re-planting some bits and whittling back. Syrah is the speciality here.
The climate here is that the day starts off with cool fogs, then gets warm in the afternoon. There’s a huge diurnal shift of 40 F in the growing season. The distinctive thing about this vineyard is that it is dry grown. The vines are irrigated for the first five years, and then weaned off the supplementary water to fend for themselves. They reach a natural balance and produce small crops of high-quality grapes. The clay in the soil is critical in making dry farming possible in such a dry region. The vast majority of the vines are all on their own roots.
All through the 1990s they were selling grapes to the top wineries, who often used the Stolpman wine on the label. Eventually, the growing cost became too high to just sell grapes, and it made sense to begin making wine. Peter was off at university in DC, and came back and started making wine as his dad had started a winery in Lompoc. He graduated in 2004 and moved back to LA working in sales management for two years. ‘I was bored ,’ he says, ‘and I loved this place.’ He did 3 years of training and took over in 2009.
The vineyard is spectacular, on gently sloped rolling hills. There are some special blocks here, with some planted sur echalas, and some at very high density, reaching 15 000 vines per hectare. They have some very special vine material, too, some of it pre-clonal. There’s a Clape block of Syrah, and facing a different direction a Renard block. ‘The vines are all in balance by themselves,’ says Peter.
Peter says that he has dug down 15 feet and found that the tap root of the vine was not losing diameter, so he thinks they go down two-to-two-and-a-half times that. At the top of the hill the limestone is below 1.5 feet of top soil, and at the bottom it’s below around 3 feet, and so the majority of the whites are planted at the bottom of the slope.
85% of the vineyard is planted to Rhône varieties, with 50% of the vineyard devoted to Syrah. Then there are 21 acres of Sangiovese (Tom loves Tuscany), 19 of Roussanne, 15 of Grenache, 10 of Sauvignon Blanc and 8.5 acres of Mourvèdre. Then the remainder is 3.5 acres-ish each of Petite Sirah, Viognier, Trousseau and Gamay; 3 acres of Nebbiolo; 2 acres of Savagnin; 1.5 acres of Chenin and 0.5 acres of Mondeuse.
A short film of Peter introducing the vineyard:
Yields are quite low. They can get 4 tons/acre of Sauvignon Blanc, but the reds average 2 tons/acre. Even the 15 000 vines/hectare block doesn’t give more than 3 tons/hectare. One remarkable block consists of just one vine, which is continually layered and has expanded to cover quite an area.
An important figure here is vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano, who has been here since 1994 and lives on the property. Peter is proud of the fact that everyone who works on the vineyard is employed full time. They have a wine called La Cuadrilla, which represents 18% of production and has a different label each year. The workers here profit from the sale of this wine. It has been made since 2009. ‘It is a key part of who we are now,’ says Peter.
The Mother Vine
This is a remarkable project: something I’ve not seen before, although it may have been a thing before phylloxera in some European wine regions. The mother vine started off with just one pre-clonal Syrah vine (Serine) planted in 2013, and it has been propagated by layering, beginning with the three shoots that were produced that year. Layering is when you bury a shoot, but leave a spur of a few buds sticking out of the ground. The next season the buried portion will grow roots from the shoot, and the bit left sticking up will effectively produce a new vine. There’s half an acre set aside for this mother vine, and it will be complete around 2030 with 2000 heads all connected as one vine. ‘She’ is now around 1100 heads, and in 2027 they will make a wine just from this one vine when they reckon they will have enough fruit for a barrel.
THE WINES
Stolpman L’Avion 2022 Ballard Canyon
13.5% alcohol. 93% Roussane, the balance Chardonnay (early picked as a natural acidifier). The cattle rancher who used to own this had a small airstrip, which is where these grapes are planted. This is fresh and expressive with sweet pear and peach fruit, a touch of honey, and some fine toasty notes. There’s a bit of mandarin brightness, too. Lovely weight and personality: it manages to be rich and fresh at the same time. So beautifully balanced. 94/100
Stolpman La Cuadrilla 2022 Santa Barbara County
14% alcohol. Has a lady with a bottle on the head. Have to buy some fruit in for this (30%). 60% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 5% Mourvèdre, 5% Sangiovese. Bright and floral with lovely black cherry fruit with some spiciness. Has texture with a hint of black pepper as well as some olive, as well as sweet fruit. So textural and has energy as well as ripeness. 93/100
Stolpman La Cuadrilla 2023 Santa Barbara County
14% alcohol. 50% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Sangiovese. Fresh, lively, bright, juicy and energetic. This has juicy cherry and berry fruits with a touch of liqourice and a sweet core to the fruit, finishing tingly and bright. Crunchy and juicy on the finish. Has an ease to it. 93/100
Stolpman Vineyards OG Syrah 2022
14% alcohol. Planted in 1993. 2022 was the second year of drought with a heatwave before picking. This is concentrated and ripe with a juicy edge to the sweet blackberry and cherry fruit, with complex spicy notes, nice tannins, some meat and olive notes and then a dry, dusty finish that frames the sweet fruit so well. Has a touch of liqourice and cherry with nice precision. Complex and rounded. 94/100
Stolpman The Great Places Syrah Jessica Lauren Stolmpan 2022
13.5% alcohol. Pre-clonal own-rooted vines, close planted. Le Grand Place Serine from Clusel Roch. 100% whole bunch. Fresh, direct, peppery, some olive and cured meat, and nice acidity. This is a beautifully weighted wine with nice acidity and some good structure. Very fresh and supple with lovely balance, and a nice tension point between the ripe fruit and the more savoury items. Lovely. 95/100
Stolpman The Great Places Syrah August James Stolpman 2021
14% alcohol. This has lovely grip and intensity under the black cherry and pepper fruit. Such complexity, with olive, cured meat, a touch of liquorice and smooth black fruits. Real harmony to this. Very pure and multidimensional, and with the structure to age. 96/100
Stolpman The Great Places Syrah Ruben Solorzano 2021
14% alcohol. Côte Blonde Serine. This is the Teepee block. It’s ripe, sleek and has sweet black fruits, some mediterranean herbs and a touch of pepper and cured meat. Nice intensity here with some peppery detail on the finish. Lovely texture and harmony. 95/100
Stolpman Sangiovese 2022 Ballard Canyon
14.5% alcohol. This is grippy and dense with a core of sweet black cherry and raspberry fruit with generosity but also some grip. Peppery and tarry with nice tannins, and a core of sweet berry fruits. Nice ripeness and presence. 93/100
Stolpman Sun & Earth Mourèdre Grenache Syrah
14.5% alcohol. This is from Ruben and Maria’s estate. Co-fermented. 38 Mourvèdre, 38% Grenache, 24% Syrah. This is ripe but fresh with textured cherry and berry fruits, with hints of mediterranean herbs, some pepper and some nice grip on the finish. This is grippy with nice balance between the sweet and the savoury. Nice intensity here with some olive on the finish. 94/100
So Fresh Unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc 2023 Ballard Canyon
Own rooted, lower yielding block. Beta tested for two years and will now become part of the range. So fresh and textural, with a slight cloudiness showing elderflower and pear with a spicy edge. This is complex, fruity and lively with ripeness allied to good acidity, with some nice spiciness on the finish. Very expressive. 93/100
Stolpman Vineyards Vin Gris 2023
70% Gamay, 30% Trousseau. Whole bunch, uncrushed, but not in a carbonic tank. Gently pressed after two weeks to puncheon. Pale pink/red with a touch of orange. Juicy, bright and lively with red cherry and aniseed, with nice juiciness. Has amazing energy to it, with some wild strawberry and some herbs. This is beautiful chilled, and has a bit more grip than rosé. 93/100
Stolpman Uni 2022 Ballard Canyon
60% Chardonnay, 40% Roussanne (the clusters that aren’t gold – they go into Avion). Bright and textural with nice pear and peach fruit with nice citrus. Textural with some richness (not filtered), this is stylish with some aniseed and toast notes at the fringes. Lovely stuff. 92/100
So Fresh Love You Bunches Sangiovese 2023 Santa Barbara County
12.5% alcohol. Whole cluster. Juicy, bright and crunchy with some sour cherry and a hint of tar. Crunchy and vivid with raspberry and dried herbs. So fruity and expressive with a bit of grip on the finish. Lovely energy here with a wide dynamic range of flavour. 93/100
So Fresh Grenache Gamay Trousseau 2022
80/15/5 blend. Carbonic. This is crunchy and juicy with nice brightness and energy. Has raspberries and herbs with nice grippy structure and a hint of pepper on the finish. There’s a lovely juiciness here to the fruit. 93/100
