2017 Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria Proprietary Red Ballard Canyon

The Scores Are In: “Don’t Miss It”

At the top of a hill, Pete Stolpman’s truck came to a screeching halt as dust kicked up around us. “These are Ruben’s vines,” he said, bolting into a row—were there rattlesnakes? He didn’t care—and we carefully followed behind.

Where Stolpman goes, we’re eager to follow—even after tales of Mini Cooper engines being busted on the vineyard’s steep slopes in Ballard Canyon—because his wines are as good as the stories, if not better.

After that fateful July visit, we tipped you off to this 2017 Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria Proprietary Red. We had heard—via Pete Stolpman—that Antonio Galloni of Vinous had said it was the best vintage of Paria Maria yet. Back in September, Galloni made good on his word, publishing a 92-95 point rave, writing “Don’t miss it,” because it’s “shaping up to be a real beauty,” leaving room to catapult Para Maria into the #1 Santa Barbara red of 2017.

Only time will tell if the other shoe drops, but consider this: This month, Wine Enthusiastnamed it an “Editors’ Choice.” The previous vintage landed on Enthusiast’s Top 100 list. Satiny and supple, layered with lavish dark cherries with just a hint of dried sage, when it comes to $19.99 reds like this, bearing “Stolpman” on the label, we recommend stocking up. Stolpman’s reds drink beautifully during white tablecloth dinners and impromptu happy hours alike.

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, 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 that call to mind the Northern Rhône slopes of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. The Para Mara Prop Red—named after Ruben’s wife, Maria, head of day-to-day operations at Stolpman—is his baby.

For the 2017 growing season, Solorzano and the Stolpman team pursued a similar approach pioneered in earlier vintages, but this time with some significant tweaks. The Para Maria blend is composed of three parts: traditionally cultivated Syrah, Petit Verdot, and Syrah, whose inclusion was inspired by conversations between Stolpman collaborator Rajat Parr and legendary Cornas winemaker Thierry Allemand.

While in previous years, the traditional Syrah comprised the majority of the blend, in 2017 the “bookend” portions of the wine were bumped up, achieving both more intensity and lift. The Syrah (increased from 28% carbonic maceration to now 40%) was picked below the growing season’s heat wave at lower sugars, infusing the wine with tantalizing freshness. Ten days later they picked the riper, fleshy traditional Syrah (40%), lending what Stolpman calls the “opulent, bigger, hedonistic ‘wow’ factor.” Lastly, Petit Verdot was upped from 15% to 20%, granting the wine its inky depth and mouthcoating texture.

The result is a total showstopper, packed to the hilt with deep, dark Rhône concentration—one of our favorite Stolpman releases in years!

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.10%
• 15 mins
• Now – 2028
• 80% Syrah20% Petit Verdot
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Cork