Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria 2016 | From Ruben Solorzano “The Grape Whisperer”
92WA | Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria 2016 is deep ruby in hue. Infused with precise aromas of fresh lavender, dried violets, juicy red plums, and freshly cracked white pepper. Lavishly dense, packed with dark-berry fruit, tart pomegranate and hinting at oolong tea, and sage, bracketed by velvety tannins and bright, clean acidity. Enjoy now for its primary exuberance or cellar for the next decade. From Ruben Solorzano – The Grape Whisperer
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93WE | Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria 2016 enhanced by 15% Petit Verdot, is one of the better wines from the region on the market for less than $25. Awesome aromas of pepper, blackberry, and charred beef are intense and deep, while the palate is lifted by bountiful acidity and flavors of boysenberry, white, black and green peppercorns, incense and sagebrush. (Editors’ Choice)
Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria 2016 | WE #51 2017 Top 100
This Wine Access client-favorite sensational California red is back. We just secured a new allocation of the Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria 2016 Proprietary Red, which earned a 93-point Editors’ Choice score from Wine Enthusiast AND landed a coveted spot on the magazine’s Top 100 Wines of 2017. That Stolpman Vineyards are renowned for some of the greatest wines of Santa Barbara is evident.
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Robert Parker has noted, “Stolpman Vineyards continues to produce impressive wines under the guidance of the highly regarded Santa Ynez winemaker, Sashi Moorman.” This stunning, powerful red blend is the result of Moorman’s whole-cluster pressing of cherry-picked fruit from Santa Barbara’s best sites. Add to that a beautiful 2016 vintage which delivered wines of depth, dense richness, and suppleness. This Stolpman effort ranks at the top of California’s finest under-$20 bottles.
Ruben Solorzano | “The Grape Whisperer”
Stolpman’s Ruben Solorzano — the man Wine Enthusiast editors have nicknamed “The Grape Whisperer” — not only manages the land at Stolpman Vineyards, he also works on nearly every major Ballard Canyon vineyard for the likes of Jonata, Larner, Rusack, Kimsey, Harrison Clarke, Boa Vista, and others. Ballard Canyon is home to many of California’s best Rhône-styled wines, and Solorzano is the AVA’s hardest working man. He’s also a night owl, taking advantage of Santa Barbara’s chilly nights to harvest nocturnally and preserve the berries’ scintillating acid vibrancy. Equipped with a headlamp and a smile, he presides over dry-farmed, head-pruned vines. The vineyards call too mind the Northern Rhône slopes of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage.
Winemaker Sashi Moorman
Solorzano and acclaimed Stolpman winemaker Sashi Moorman played the 2016 vintage perfectly. California winemakers will tell you that the defining event of the vintage was a severe heat spike in late September. Those who harvested after had to contend with accumulated sugars and lower acids. Those who picked before were treated to BB-sized berries of exquisite brightness and a suave density guaranteeing excellent cellaring potential. A newly minted beauty, the 2016 Stolpman “Para Maria” Red has it all — opulence, vibrancy, silken texture, and great length.