Stolpman Vineyards

Marilyn Stolpman put the idea of planting a vineyard into Tom Stolpman's head on their honeymoon in Napa Valley. Tom, a lawyer, searched for limestone near the ocean, found the land in Ballard Canyon in 1988 and purchased what is now Stolpman Vineyards in 1990. The vineyard was first planted in 1990 with 18 grape varieties; by the later 1990s the family and vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano had narrowed it to mostly Rhône varieties, in addition to Sangiovese. Tom managed the vineyard in his spare time and sold the fruit to other winemakers. While still selling much of the fruit, the family launched its own brand with winemaker Sashi Moorman in 2001, as one of the first winery tenants in a warehouse space that would become the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Tom's son Pete Stolpman took over in early 2009. The Ballard Canyon AVA, about 7,800 acres within the Santa Ynez Valley and Central Coast viticultural areas, took effect on November 1, 2013, and Pete helped create it. Tom and Marilyn Stolpman are the founding partners, and Pete and Jessica Stolpman are partners.

• 1988: Tom Stolpman finds the Ballard Canyon land; 1990: purchase and first planting
• 2001: own brand launched with winemaker Sashi Moorman
• Early 2009: Pete Stolpman takes over
• November 1, 2013: the Ballard Canyon AVA takes effect

As of October 2026, Pete and Jessica Stolpman are partners, Tom and Marilyn Stolpman are founding partners, Ruben and Maria Solorzano are the vignerons, Kyle Knapp is head winemaker and Matt Nocas is assistant winemaker. Pete and Jessica met while both working at a Southern California wine distributor. After their marriage in July 2013, Jessica took over management of California, Stolpman's largest wholesale market. Ruben Solorzano has been vineyard manager at Stolpman since 1994, and through his vineyard management company also farms several sites from the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills through Happy Canyon. Maria Solorzano runs the day-to-day operation of the vineyard, and the Para Maria wines are named for her.

• Pete and Jessica Stolpman: partners
• Tom and Marilyn Stolpman: founding partners
• Ruben and Maria Solorzano: vignerons; Ruben vineyard manager since 1994
• Kyle Knapp: head winemaker; Matt Nocas: assistant winemaker

The estate sits on a limestone outcrop in Ballard Canyon, unobstructed from the Pacific Ocean wind. Its limestone is about 2 million years old, under a thin layer of dense clay topsoil that retains moisture, so the estate can withhold irrigation; the vines receive little, if any. Peter Stolpman calls this the 'modern definition of dry farming in California', meaning no irrigation from May to August. At night during the growing season, temperatures drop an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the vineyard lies at 34.6 degrees latitude. As of 2019 the property covered 153 acres across limestone ridges. Tom Stolpman planted 10 acres of Sangiovese in 1994; the Estate Grown Syrah draws on the original vines planted through the 1990s, high-density and own-rooted vineyards planted in the 2000s, and newer massal selection Syrah, and the vineyard includes new 6,000 vine per acre 'Great Places' Syrah vineyards. Trousseau covers 3.5 acres. All vine work is done by hand by La Cuadrilla, the full-time vineyard crew, with no tractors. The planting spreads harvest over almost 3 months, from early ripening Sauvignon Blanc and Trousseau to Grenache, Mourvèdre and finally Roussanne, and the fruit is harvested at night.

• Limestone about 2 million years old under a thin layer of dense clay topsoil
• Little, if any, irrigation; no irrigation from May to August
• CCOF Certified Organic as of the 2022 vintage; Demeter Certified Biodynamic as of the 2023 vintage
• Vines worked only by hand by La Cuadrilla, with no tractors; harvest at night

The winery favors fermentation with no inoculation, sulfur or other additions. Grapes are often left uncrushed or as whole bunches for light extraction, and fruit for red wine is foot trodden. Aging runs from a few months to over two years, depending on the wine. New oak is used only for Roussanne; all other wines see only used wood. Many So Fresh and Unfiltered & Esoteric cuvées are bottled with no sulfur, and wines aged longer receive minimal sulfur additions. The 2022 Estate Grown Syrah, for example, was 50 percent whole cluster, fermented natively in concrete for 15 to 25 days and aged 9 months in neutral 500-liter French puncheons.

• No inoculation; uncrushed grapes or whole bunches common; red wine fruit foot trodden
• New oak only for Roussanne; all other wines in used wood
• Many So Fresh and Unfiltered & Esoteric cuvées bottled with no sulfur

The range is grouped into Estate wines, Unfiltered & Esoteric, So Fresh, La Cuadrilla, Combe, the Solorzano Projects and The Great Places. The estate calls Estate Grown Syrah its flagship and 'the standard bearer of the entire Syrah-focused Ballard Canyon AVA'; it is a blend of almost all Syrah blocks on the estate, and the 2022 made 3,300 cases. The estate wines also include the Originals and Hilltops Syrahs, Angeli, Sangiovese, Grenache, Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Nebbiolo and Estate Rosé. L'Avion is the old-vine Roussanne; the 2022 was 93 percent Roussanne and 7 percent Chardonnay. La Cuadrilla is a vineyard-wide blend; the 2023 was 50 percent Syrah, 20 percent Grenache, 15 percent Mourvèdre and 15 percent Sangiovese, with 12,900 cases made. Its profits are returned to the crew members, divided by seniority, as a year-end bonus and weekly bonuses. It began when Ruben Solorzano gave one small vineyard block to his crew, and the program was expanded beginning with the 2009 vintage. So Fresh wines ferment whole and uncrushed, are harvested early and go to bottle early without added sulfur. Love You Bunches began in 2013, when the Washington, D.C. restaurant 2 Amys asked Stolpman for a chillable pizza wine; the resulting carbonic Sangiovese was called Stolpman Carbonic Fermentation Sangiovese and was renamed Love You Bunches the next year. Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle credits Love You Bunches with helping 'usher in a new California style' for Sangiovese. Combe is Pete Stolpman and Rajat Parr's collaboration: Parr began making Chardonnay alongside Stolpman in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto in 2010 and campaigned to plant Trousseau on the estate's limestone, and 2014 was the first vintage of Combe Trousseau. The Combe range has also included Chenin Blanc, Vin Gris and a Pet'nat of Trousseau. With Ruben and Maria Solorzano, the Stolpman family makes Para Maria, red and rosé wines from Santa Barbara County vineyards under Ruben's farming, and Sun + Earth, a co-fermented Mourvèdre blend from four acres of limestone hillside the Stolpmans gave the Solorzanos to plant. The Great Places Syrahs include August James, Ruben Solorzano, Jessica Lauren and Otto Reynard.

• Estate Grown Syrah: the flagship; 3,300 cases in 2022
• L'Avion: old-vine Roussanne (2022: 93 percent Roussanne, 7 percent Chardonnay)
• La Cuadrilla: vineyard-wide blend whose profits are returned to the crew
• So Fresh: early-harvested, whole-grape wines, including Love You Bunches
• Combe: Pete Stolpman and Rajat Parr's collaboration; Combe Trousseau first made in 2014
• Para Maria and Sun + Earth: partnerships with the Solorzano family

Stolpman describes its aim as 'vibrant, site-specific wines, with a focus unique to Ballard Canyon AVA', and its aging as a search for 'the marriage of distinct fresh fruit purity and integrated, fleshed-out, seamless textures.' Of Combe Trousseau, the estate writes: 'The wine will always be light on its feet.'

• Native fermentation and minimal manipulation
• Light, nuanced extraction from whole bunches and uncrushed grapes
• Used wood for every wine except Roussanne

The tasting room is at 2434 Alamo Pintado Ave in Los Olivos. As of October 2026 a tasting costs $25 and is free for club members; reservations are strongly encouraged, parties are limited to 6, and walk-ins are accommodated on a limited basis.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/vision/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/vision/our-land/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/vision/our-people/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/vision/our-craft/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wines/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/visit/, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/trade/tech-notes/, and the estate's tech notes (PDF): https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/EsateGrownSyrah_2022_TechNotes_SV.pdf, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/LaCuadrilla_2023_TechNotes_SV.pdf, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Lavion_2022_TechNotes_SV.pdf, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ParaMariaRed_2022_TechNotes_SV.pdf, https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CombeTrousseau_2023_TechNotes_SVSF.pdf. Official source: Federal Register, Establishment of the Ballard Canyon Viticultural Area, 78 FR 60693 (federalregister.gov). Secondary sources: San Francisco Chronicle (Matt Kettmann, 30 July 2019; Esther Mobley, 2 July 2025) and Decanter (last updated 16 July 2019). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.