2024 Stolpman Vineyards Ballard Canyon La Cuadrilla Red Blend 750ml

In 1990, trial attorney Tom Stolpman bought a former cattle ranch in Ballard Canyon in Santa Barbara County after searching for limestone near the Pacific. He and his wife Marilyn planted the first vines in the early 1990s, sold fruit to other wineries at first, and in 1994 hired vineyard manager Ruben Solórzano to build a year round crew.

Through the late 1990s and 2000s the family shifted toward Rhône grapes alongside Tom’s beloved Sangiovese, and in 2013 Ballard Canyon was recognized as an AVA focused on Syrah. The La Cuadrilla profit sharing program began with the crew’s own training block and, starting with the 2009 harvest, expanded to include more of the estate’s wine so that profits could be returned to the team.

Today the estate farms its Ballard Canyon vineyard organically and biodynamically, certified CCOF organic beginning with the 2022 vintage and Demeter biodynamic beginning with the 2023 vintage. In the cellar they favor native fermentations in concrete and aging in neutral large casks, aiming for vibrant, site focused wines shaped by wind, limestone and a year round vineyard team.