United States · Santa Barbara

Stolpman Vineyards

Ballard Canyon estate wines shaped by dry farming, own-rooted vines and a cellar range that runs from carbonic Sangiovese to oak-framed Roussanne.

The producer

Tom and Marilyn Stolpman established this Ballard Canyon estate in Santa Barbara County, with planting beginning in 1992 across chalky marine sedimentary rock, sand and degraded shale. Young vines receive irrigation for five years before dry farming begins; most are own-rooted, tying a 173-acre vineyard to a broad set of grapes including Sangiovese, Roussanne, Syrah and Chardonnay.

Peter Stolpman joined the family business in 2009, and the wines now move deliberately between short, stainless-steel-led bottlings and longer-aged wines. Love You Bunches is 100% Sangiovese, made with whole-cluster native carbonic fermentation for dry, fruit-led lift and light body. L’Avion takes a fuller route, using Roussanne’s natural viscosity and new oak to build weight and texture.

Known for

Dry-farmed Ballard Canyon wines, from carbonic Sangiovese to textured Roussanne.

Notable facts

The story

The Mother Vine

Stolpman is creating a half-acre vineyard block from a single layered Mother Vine. Rather than establish separate, disconnected plants across the site, the estate plans for about 2,000 vine heads to remain physically connected as one vine. The work is intended to be completed around 2030. Layering extends the original plant through the block, so each new head remains joined to the vine from which it grew. The project sits within an estate with 173 acres under vine, but this half-acre is being built on a different physical principle: one connected plant spreading into thousands of heads.

The Mother Vine

Stolpman is creating a half-acre vineyard block from a single layered Mother Vine. Rather than establish separate, disconnected plants across the site, the estate plans for about 2,000 vine heads to remain physically connected as one vine. The work is intended to be completed around 2030. Layering extends the original plant through the block, so each new head remains joined to the vine from which it grew. The project sits within an estate with 173 acres under vine, but this half-acre is being built on a different physical principle: one connected plant spreading into thousands of heads.

From the atlas

Stolpman Vineyards

At A Glance

The Producer

Stolpman Vineyards began with Tom and Marilyn Stolpman’s search for limestone close to the Pacific influence in Santa Barbara County. Their Ballard Canyon property was acquired through a process that began in 1988 and concluded in 1990; planting followed in 1992, with 18 varieties going into the ground. That unusually broad planting now allows the estate to make Sangiovese, Roussanne, Syrah and white blends from one vineyard rather than treating Ballard Canyon as a one-grape address.

Peter Stolpman joined the family business in 2009 after working for a wine distributor. Under his generation, the estate has moved more of its fruit into its own bottles, with vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano overseeing farming that has been described as organic, biodynamic and largely dry-farmed. The consequence is a range built from estate fruit and varied cellar treatment, from short-aged Sangiovese to Roussanne given more time and oak.

Place

Ballard Canyon sits within the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. Stolpman’s site was selected for limestone-derived ground near the coast, while the vineyard’s 173 planted acres provide enough scale for several grape varieties and wine styles. That combination lets the estate make a brisk, short-aged red such as Love You Bunches alongside fuller white wine from Roussanne, instead of forcing every bottle toward one weight or flavour profile.

Soil And Site

The vineyard combines chalky marine sedimentary rock with sand and degraded shale. Most vines are own-rooted, and young plants receive irrigation for their first five years before being weaned onto dry farming. A vine that must work through these soils without regular irrigation after establishment is part of the estate’s route to fruit with concentration, while the own-rooted material remains a direct connection between vine and ground.

Story

The estate first sold grapes, then gradually returned more production to Stolpman-labelled wines. Peter Stolpman’s arrival in 2009 also coincided with La Cuadrilla, a wine project linked to the full-time vineyard crew: sales proceeds are shared with those workers through profit sharing. The project ties a named bottle to the people tending the vines, while keeping the wine itself within the estate’s broader work of dry farming and native fermentation.

Vineyards And Cellar

Dry farming begins only after the five-year irrigation period, so the vineyard does not ask immature vines to survive without water. Once established, the vines are farmed with less irrigation, and the estate’s mostly own-rooted plantings carry that site expression into the fruit. Organic and biodynamic work in the vineyard is paired with native fermentation in the cellar, leaving the yeasts present on the fruit to begin the conversion from grape juice to wine.

Ageing changes with the material. Wines can spend only a few months in cellar or more than two years, depending on their power and concentration. Used wood is the usual choice; new oak is reserved for Roussanne, where it is intended to frame the grape’s naturally viscous texture. Longer-aged wines receive minimal sulfur for freshness and stability, while shorter-aged bottles can retain a more immediate fruit profile.

Wines

The range is deliberately wide. Sauvignon Blanc, Uni White Blend, Syrah, Roussanne, Chardonnay and Sangiovese each meet a different cellar schedule, so bottle choice matters as much as grape choice. Short ageing and stainless steel favour direct fruit and a lighter body; longer élevage and oak can add weight, texture and a longer finish.

Love You Bunches is the quick-moving end of the range: 100% Sangiovese, drawn primarily from Block 5 and the newer own-rooted Block 6. Whole clusters undergo native carbonic fermentation, then the wine spends two to four months in 80% stainless steel and 20% barrel. The result is a red built for fruit, freshness and a lighter texture rather than oak weight.

L’Avion 2021 shows the other direction. It is a Ballard Canyon white of 93% Roussanne and 7% Chardonnay, using a grape whose natural viscosity is specifically why Stolpman reserves new oak for Roussanne. Its role in the range is more textural: a fuller white shape, oak used as a frame, and a palate with more weight than the short-aged Sangiovese.

In The Glass

Love You Bunches leads with bright fruit rather than barrel character. Whole-cluster carbonic fermentation and short, stainless-steel-led ageing keep the palate light-bodied and fruit-forward, while the small barrel component adds a little texture without turning the wine savoury or oak-heavy. Its finish should feel dry and immediate, with Sangiovese’s freshness carrying the fruit onward.

L’Avion moves toward a broader white-wine texture. Roussanne brings viscosity, and the estate’s selective use of new oak is intended to shape that weight rather than bury it. Expect a dry white with more body and a fuller mid-palate than the Sangiovese, where oak, lees-ageing and grape texture matter more than a brisk fruit-only profile.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Love You Bunches Sangiovese. It is 100% Sangiovese from Blocks 5 and 6, fermented whole-cluster with native carbonic fermentation and aged for only two to four months, mostly in stainless steel. That recipe puts Ballard Canyon fruit, own-rooted vines, short élevage and minimal cellar weight in one dry, fruit-led red. Its light body and direct texture make the farming and fermentation choices easy to taste before moving to the more layered whites and longer-aged wines.

Anecdote

At Stolpman, a half-acre vineyard block is being made from one layered Mother Vine. Instead of planting separate, disconnected vines across the block, the plan is to create about 2,000 heads that remain physically connected as one vine. The work is intended to be completed around 2030. It is a small piece of a 173-acre vineyard, but its scale is still startling: a half-acre of linked Sangiovese- or Roussanne-sized vine architecture, trained and layered from a single original plant rather than assembled as an ordinary row of individual vines.

Final Word

Stolpman is most useful as a producer to follow across grapes and cellar choices. Love You Bunches shows dry, fruit-led Sangiovese shaped by whole clusters and short ageing; L’Avion shows how Roussanne’s weight can be framed with oak. Both begin in the same Ballard Canyon ground, but each bottle turns that ground into a different texture.

Sources

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