Description
Over 20 years ago, our Founding Partner, Thomas Stolpman, discovered what we believe to be one of the greatest viticultural sites on earth. Hidden in the hills of California’s Central Coast, on a rare Limestone outcropping & unobstructed from the Pacific Ocean wind, this unique land is ideally suited to grow Syrah and Roussanne grapes. We are committed to preserving this natural environment for our vines through natural farming, dry farming, & sustainable employment. In the winery, we prefer native fermentation & minimal manipulation.
Dedicated to sensible farming & winemaking, we believe that we can create natural, vibrant, site-specific wines, with a focus unique to Ballard Canyon AVA, California.
BACKGROUND
After the success of our first whole-grape, carbonic-fermentation of “white” grapes in 2020, Pete Stolpman spent the first part of 2021 scouring Santa Barbara wine country for potential components for his follow up effort. He was thrilled to find Gewurztraminer to add color, texture, and an exotic floral + spice component. Bitter sweetly, this might be the last vintage from the Semillon planted in 1972 on My Friend Matt’s Vineyard in the Los Olivos District AVA as these days, the old vines are producing extremely low yields. Following the same technique that we employ with the red version of Love You Bunches, Carbonic Sangiovese, we lovingly hand-harvest each bunch to keep the grapes intact for the first week of fermentation. This process gently extracts skin color and texture while allowing the wine to remain delicate and fresh, without tannin or coarseness.