2021 Stolpman Vineyards SGM Santa Barbara County 750 ml

“We’ve spent 30 years dedicated to Syrah that’s brooding, savory, and wild, with a ton of complexity,” Pete Stolpman told us when we caught up with him, and he took a breather from dealing with California’s recent wild rainstorms. “The Grenache and Mourvèdre give the Syrah a prettiness—not that it tones it down, but makes it more polished, more approachable, even more delicious when young.”

Pete’s winery has been experimenting with Rhône-style blends for years, but only recently did they have the perfect fruit to pull off a blend like this. And it all comes back to a four-acre plot that Pete and his family gave to longtime grape-whisperer Ruben Solorzano.

If Solorzano knows the Stolpman land like he lives there, it’s because he does: He and his family make their home on the Stolpman estate, and when Pete passed him the deed for the four-acre parcel that sits behind Ruben’s house, the legendary vineyard manager wasted no time in molding the vineyard to his exact specifications.

He planted this new plot with 6,000 vines per acre of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Grenache. His plan was to vinify the grapes by co-fermentation, a daring method that relies on precise farming and, when done well, produces gorgeously harmonious wines. The destination of the resulting wine would be Sun + Earth, the $98 flagship of Solorzano’s own label, a bottle that stacks up with the best in Santa Barbara County. 

In 2021, Pete and Ruben decided to add a good portion of that co-fermented juice to Stolpman’s world-class Syrah. The result is the outstanding 2021 Stolpman SGM, a bottle we’re proud to share with you.